Immobilization of room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) on silica gel for adsorption removal of thiophenic sulfur compounds from fuel

ImCl-silica gel (SG-ImCl) was prepared by directly immobilized [1-methylimidazole][Cl] (ImCl) onto silica gel (SG) using co-condensation of ionic liquid modified organosilane and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica source in strong acid condition. The properties of the samples were characterized by FTIR, elemental analysis, 29Si MAS NMR, SEM, BET. The results suggested that [1-methylimidazole][Cl] had been successfully immobilized on silica gel. The structure and morphology of SG-ImCl was varied with the content of ImCl. Moreover, SG-ImCl with suitable content of ImCl exhibited higher adsorption capacity than pure SG for a series of thiophenic sulfur compounds and could remove them from fuel.