Maarten Trekels

Selective Removal of N‐Heterocyclic Aromatic Contaminants from Fuels by Lewis Acidic Metal–Organic Frameworks

Fossil fuels, such as diesel or gasoline, are blends of aromatic and aliphatic compounds that contain significant levels of heterocyclic aromatic contaminants. These contaminants have to be removed for environmental reasons. One of the most important issues is the presence of sulfur compounds, such as thiophene (TPH), benzothiophene (BT), and dibenzothiophene (DBT) in fuel feeds, which lead to the formation of SOx exhaust gases and eventually to acid rain. As environmental legislation becomes more stringent on SOx exhaust levels, it is imperative to keep lowering the sulfur concentrations to currently 10 ppmw S (parts per million by weight of sulfur) or less. The main industrial process is hydrodesulfurization (HDS) in which sulfur compounds are hydrogenated to hydrocarbons and H2S over typically a CoMo catalyst. However, nitrogen compounds, such as (substituted) indoles and carbazoles, which are also present in fossil fuels, compete for the active sites on these HDS catalysts, preventing a deep HDS. In the absence of nitrogen compounds, deep HDS can easily produce fuels with sulfur levels well below 10 ppmw, for instance by using the newest generations of materials based on Mo-W-Ni, which can lower sulfur levels to 5 ppmw. As the eventual aim is to have sulfur-free fuel, even these low concentrations will have to be removed. A promising way to selectively remove nitrogen contaminants would be adsorption on a microporous material. Efficient purification can be performed by adsorption as long as the interaction between the adsorbate and the adsorbent is relatively strong. A CuY zeolite has been described as a potential adsorbent for the removal of nitrogen compounds by p complexation, but the maximal capacity at saturation only amounted to 3 mg N per gram of adsorbent, and moreover sulfur compounds are adsorbed as well. An ideal adsorbent for such application should be easy to synthesize, stable in the given feed compositions, possess pores that are large enough to accommodate bulky organic molecules, such as carbazoles, have a sufficient capacity, and be highly selective for nitrogen over sulfur compounds. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of highly porous materials, formed of inorganic subunits and organic linkers that bear multiple complexing functions (for example, carboxylates, phosphonates, and others), which enables a unique variety of potential interactions inside the pores. To date, they have been successfully used as adsorbents for the capture of greenhouse gases, such as CO2 and CH4, and in liquid-phase separations such as those of alkylaromatics and styrene, olefins and paraffins, and for fuel and water purification by adsorption of organic pollutants. Herein, we propose the use of mesoporous metal carboxylates with different topologies and compositions for the selective adsorption of nitrogen contaminants. These heterocyclic contaminants are found in fuel feeds that are typically aliphatic with a minor aromatic fraction. This system is simulated herein by using a solvent composed of heptane/toluene in a volumetric ratio of 80:20 (labeled hereafter as H/T). Specifically, the adsorptive removal of indole (IND), 2-methylindole (2MI), 1,2-dimethylindole (1,2DMI), carbazole (CBZ), and N-methylcarbazole (NMC) as well as of TPH, BT, and DBT has been studied. These molecules are the most important heterocyclic contaminants in fuel feeds. To study the influence of the toluenecontaining solvent on the adsorption and on the interaction strength between the host and the adsorbate, the adsorption of the contaminants has also been studied using a toluene/ [*] M. Maes, S. Schouteden, F. Vermoortele, Dr. L. Alaerts, Prof. Dr. D. E. De Vos Centre for Surface Chemistry and Catalysis Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Kasteelpark Arenberg 23, 3001 Leuven (Belgium) Fax: (+ 32)16-321-998 E-mail: dirk.devos@biw.kuleuven.be

Probing the magnetization inside a superconducting Nb film by nuclear resonant scattering

We present an approach to probe the magnetization inside superconducting films using ultrathin 57Fe probe layers excited by synchrotron radiation. We investigate the evolution of the 57Fe hyperfine field orientation as a function of magnetic field above and below the superconducting transition temperature Tc for a Nb(50 nm)/57Fe(0.6 nm)/Nb(50 nm) trilayer. It is found that significant screening of the external field in the superconductor occurs only at low field, leading to a change in the hyperfine field angle below Tc. The presented approach allows to study the influence of magnetic fields and vortex induced electron correlations in complex layered structures incorporating superconductors.