The removal of sulfur compounds, particularly thiophene
derivatives,
from oil is crucial due to concerns about environmental issues. Therefore,
the deep desulfurization of transportation fuels is currently an urgent
problem, and numerous attempts have been made in this direction. Membrane-based
desulfurization can be a good alternative to the traditional hydrodesulfurization
method, which has several limitations. In this work, the use of membranes
containing a metal–organic framework, MOF-5, doped with transition
metals (Ag, Cu, Ni), in the adsorptive desulfurization process was
studied. The efficiency of membranes was evaluated based on selective
removal of thiophene and dibenzothiophene from model oil. Characterization
techniques, including scanning electron microscopic (SEM), X-ray diffraction
(XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA), confirmed the successful synthesis and incorporation
of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) into mixed matrix membranes
(MMMs). Desulfurization experiments showed that MOF-5/Ag exhibited
the highest thiophene adsorption efficiency (86.8%), outperforming
MOF-5/Cu and MOF-5/Ni. The enhanced performance is attributed to the
strong interaction between silver and sulfur. These findings demonstrate
the potential of MOF-based MMMs for efficient and selective desulfurization,
offering a viable alternative to traditional hydrodesulfurization
(HDS) methods.