Dispersed silver oxides on supports such as TiO(2), gamma-Al(2)O(3) and SiO(2) were observed to be effective desulfurizing agents for refined fuels at ambient conditions. TiO(2) was determined to be the most stable support for silver oxide. Ag (4 wt%)/TiO(2) demonstrated a saturation sulfur capacity of 6.3 mgS/g for JP5 fuel containing 1172 ppmw sulfur. This high affinity for sulfur translated to one sulfur heterocycle associated with every two surface Ag atoms in the sorbent even in the presence of a 160-fold excess of other aromatics found in the fuel. A unique attribute of these sorbents was that they were thermally regenerable at 450 degrees C using air as a stripping medium over multiple cycles. Desulfurization characteristics also varied with fuel composition. Variation in desulfurization performance between JP5, JP8 and a light fraction JP5 were established and associated with the differences in sulfur composition of these fuels. The effects of surface area, porosity and crystal structure of the sorbent on sulfur capacity are also presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.