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Catalytic oxidative desulfurisation over Co/Fe-γAl2O3 catalyst: performance, characterisation and computational study

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Abstract

The world faces the challenge to produce ultra-low sulfur diesel with low-cost technology. Therefore, this research emphasised on production of low sulfur fuel utilising nanoparticle catalyst under mild condition. A small amount of cobalt oxide (10–30 wt%) was introduced into the Fe/Al2O3 catalyst through the wet impregnation method. Cobalt modification induces a positive effect on the performance of the iron catalyst. Hence, the insertion of cobalt species into Fe/Al2O3 led to the formation of lattice fringes in all directions which resulted in the formation of Co3O4 and Fe3O4 species. The optimised catalyst, Co/Fe–Al2O3, calcined at 400 °C with a dopant ratio of 10:90 indicating the highest desulfurisation activity by removing 96% of thiophene, 100% of dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 92% of 4,6-dimethyl dibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT). Based on the density functional theory (DFT) on Co/Fe–Al2O3, two pathways with the overall energy of −40.78 eV were suggested for the complete oxidation of DBT.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support by Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia through FRGS Grant under vot (203.PKIMIA.6711921) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for Short Term Grant (304/PKIMIA/6315052).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

    Nor Atiq Syakila Mohd Nazmi, Mohamad Nasir Mohamad Ibrahim, Farook Adam & Wan Nazwanie Wan Abdullah

  2. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

    Fazira Ilyana Abdul Razak

  3. Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Wan Nur Aini Wan Mokhtar

  4. Integrative Medicine Cluster, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute (AMDI), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 13200 Bertam Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia

    NoorFatimah Yahaya

  5. Unisza Science and Medicine Foundation Centre, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Besut Campus, 22200, Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Salmiah Jamal Mat Rosid

  6. School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Nurasmat Mohd Shukri

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  1. Nor Atiq Syakila Mohd Nazmi
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  2. Fazira Ilyana Abdul Razak
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  9. Wan Nazwanie Wan Abdullah
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Contributions

Wan Nazwanie Wan Abdullah: conceptualisation, validation, supervision, funding acquisition

Nor Atiq Syakila Mohd Nazmi: resources; writing—original draft; investigation

Fazira Ilyana Abdul Razak: writing—review and editing; data curation

Wan Nur Aini Wan Mokhtar: writing—review and editing; data curation

Farook Adam: writing—review and editing; data curation

Mohamad Nasir Mohamad Ibrahim: writing—review and editing; data curation

Noorfatimah Yahaya: writing—review and editing; data curation

Nurasmat Mohd Shukri: writing—review and editing; data curation

Salmiah Jamal Mat Rosid: writing—review and editing; data curation

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Correspondence to Wan Nazwanie Wan Abdullah.

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Nazmi, .A.S.M., Razak, F.I.A., Mokhtar, W.N.A.W. et al. Catalytic oxidative desulfurisation over Co/Fe-γAl2O3 catalyst: performance, characterisation and computational study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 1009–1020 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15733-1

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