Desulfurization of Gasoline using Molecularly Imprinted Chitosan as Selective Adsorbents Yonghui Chang & Lei Zhang & Hanjie Ying & Zhenjiang Li & Hao Lv & Pingkai Ouyang Received: 6 March 2008 / Accepted: 11 November 2008 / Published online: 3 December 2008 # Humana Press 2008 Abstract For desulfurization of gasoline, novel chitosan-based molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared by cross-linking chitosan with epichlorohydrin in the presence of dibenzothiophene (DBT) as the template. The influence of cross-linking ratio on the specific adsorption was evaluated. The effects of the types and the amounts of porogen on selectivity of the chitosan MIP were also examined. Results showed that MIP has a higher recognition property to DBT. The maximum rebinding capacities of the MIP reached 22.69 mg g -1 in the model solution. The adsorption behaviors of the MIP including adsorption kinetics, isotherms, and thermodynamic parameters were investigated and the experimental data agreed well with the Langmuir model. The dynamical adsorption behaved in first-order kinetics. Negative values for the Gibbs free energy showed that the adsorptions were spontaneous processes. The MIP was further used to selectively adsorb organosulfur from gasoline. Keywords Molecularly imprinted polymer . Molecular imprinting technology . Dibenzothiophene . Desulfurization Introduction Dibenzothiophene (DBT) and its derivatives are important sulfur-containing compounds, which have received considerable attention in the design of molecular electronic devices and electron-transporting materials [1–3]. DBT and its derivatives are mostly found in coal tar and crude oil, and account for more than 70% of total organosulfur in gasoline, which have become a challenge in desulfurization investigations. In recent years, the serious environmental pollution has been caused by combustion of organosulfur compounds contained in the fuel. In addition, sulfur-containing compounds are also poisons for Appl Biochem Biotechnol (2010) 160:593–603 DOI 10.1007/s12010-008-8441-7 Y. Chang : L. Zhang : H. Ying (*) : Z. Li : H. Lv : P. Ouyang State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Life Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, NanJing University of Technology, Nanjing 210009, People’ s Republic of China e-mail: yinghanjie@njut.edu.cn