Development of surface imprinting polymer as a selective adsorbent for adsorbing and separating dibenzothiophene from fuel oil.

A novel surface molecular imprinting approach was used to synthesize a desulfurization imprinting polymer (MIP-SiO/TiO). Its structure and characters were investigated by using infrared spectrophotometry, X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen sorption measurements. The structural superiority of MIP-SiO/TiO was reflected by the above measurements. The adsorption behavior of MIP-SiO/TiO was evaluated by using batch static adsorption experiments by the kinetic, isotherm, and thermodynamic analyses. The experimental results show that the adsorption process follows a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and that the experimental data are well fitted with the Freundlich isothermal equation. The thermodynamic analysis indicate that the adsorption process is endothermic in nature. Meanwhile, it was further demonstrated that the prepared adsorbent has high specificity for dibenzothiophene. The approach we described would provide a new opportunity in the deep desulfurization field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]