Investigating Metal Organic Frameworks in Adsorptive Desulfurization

Investigating methods to remove sulfur compounds from fuel is one of the most important and vital issues in the oil industry. Adsorptive desulfurization is known as one of the most promising desulfurization methods due to its low energy consumption. Metal-organic frameworks are a new family of porous materials with tunable structure and function. High specific surface area and porosity, adjustable pore size, and most importantly, high selectivity of metal-organic frameworks towards sulfur compounds, are among the features that distinguish this adsorbent from other adsorbents such as metal oxides, zeolites and carbon compounds, and they show higher adsorption capacities than other adsorbents due to the proper interaction with sulfur compounds. The dominant mechanisms in the adsorptive desulfurization process over metal-organic frameworks are π complexation, acid-base interaction, direct sulfur-metal interaction, and van der Waals forces. In this study, the application and mechanisms of MOF in adsorptive desulfurization was investigated.