Polyoxometalates encapsulated into hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica for desulfurization

In this work, the highly active polyoxometalate (PMo2W2) with Venturello structure was effectively encapsulated into hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica (HPMOS) to form hollow nanoreactor PMo2W2@HPMOS, where central cavity and mesoporous shell both provide a stable place to react with organic sulfides. In addition, the ordered pores in the shell facilitate mass transfer, that is, sulfide molecules can freely move in and out of the nanoreactor. Desulfurization test results show that hollow nanoreactor PMo2W2@HPMOS can almost remove four sulfides simultaneously from diesel in 2 h under mild conditions. Besides, the excellent reusability of the nanoreactor also indicates that the confined effect of mesoporous shell contributes to solidify the active component.