Polymer-induced self-assembly strategy toward 3D printable porous MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalyst for efficient oxidative desulfurization

Porous metal oxides have attracted much attention due to their large number of internal crosslinking channels and higher specific surface areas in the fields of heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, a solvent-free polymer-induced self-assembly strategy is reported for the preparation of porous metal oxides by the strong interaction between polymers and inorganic precursors in a high-energy ball milling process. The 5 %MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalyst has a stratified pore structure and high surface area. Meanwhile, due to the introduction of the active component molybdenum oxide, the abundant low-price molybdenum species and the corresponding oxygen vacancy are retained, which shows high catalytic oxidative desulfurization performance for a variety of aromatic sulfides, especially the intractable 4,6-DMDBT. The 3D printing ink with excellent viscoelasticity is prepared by the composite of powder porous metal oxides and montmorillonite, and the monolithic catalyst is obtained by direct ink writing 3D printing technology. This research provides a new idea for the design and fabrication of high efficiency catalysts.