Ordered mesoporous Cu-ZnO-Al_2O_3 adsorbents for reactive adsorption desulfurization with enhanced sulfur saturation capacity

To enhance sulfur adsorption and reactive activity, ordered mesoporous Cu-ZnO-Al2O3 adsorbents were prepared by a novel one-pot evaporation-induced self-assembly strategy using P123 as a structure-directing agent and ethanol as the solvent for reactive adsorption desulfurization. The metal oxide precursor molecules around P123 micellized, and self-assembly simultaneously occurred during evaporation from an ethanol solution at 60 °C, leading to the formation of the p6 mm hexagonal symmetry mesoporous structure. Characterization results prove that the Cu-ZnO-Al2O3 adsorbents possess an ordered mesoporous structure with high thermal stability, large surface area（386–226 m2/g）, large pore volume（0.60–0.46 cm3/g）, and good dispersion of ZnO and Cu, which is beneficial for transforming S-compounds to ZnO. The sulfur saturation capacity of the ordered-mesoporous-structure Cu-ZnO-Al2O3 adsorbents is larger（49.4 mg/g） than that of the unordered mesoporous structure（13.5 mg/g）.

Preliminary Synthesis and Characterization of Mesoporous Nanocrystalline Zirconia

A novel method to prepare mesoporous nano-zirconia was developed. Thesynthesis was carried out in the presence of PEO surfactants via a solid-state reaction. Thematerials exhibit a strong diffraction peak at low 2θ angle and their nitrogenadsorption/desorption isotherms are typical of type IV with H1 hysteresis loops. The pore structureimaged by TEM can be described as wormhole domains. The tetragonal zirconia nanocrystals are uniformin size (around 1.5 nm) and their mesopores focus on around 4.6 nm. The zirconia nanocrystal growthis tentatively postulated to be the result of an aggregation mechanism. This study also revealsthat the PEO surfactants can interact with the Zr-O-Zr framework to reinforce the thermal stabilityof zirconia. The ratio of NaOH to ZrOCl_2, crystallization and calcination temperature play animportant role in the synthesis of mesoporous nano-zirconia.

FT-IR Study of Carbon Nanotube Supported Co-Mo Catalysts

In this paper, adsorption properties of dibenzothiophene (DBT) on carbon nanotube, carbon nanotube supported oxide state and sulfide state CoMo catalysts are studied by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) technique and FT-IR spectroscopy. Activated carbon support, γ-AlgO3 support and supported CoMo catalysts are also subjected to studies for comparison. It was found that sulfide state CoMoS/MWCNT, CoMoS/AC and CoMoS/γ-Al2O3 catalysts adsorbed much more DBT molecules than their corresponding oxide state catalysts, as well as their corresponding supports. The chemically adsorbed DBT aromatic molecules did not undergo decomposition on the surface of supports, supported oxide state CoMo catalysts and sulfide state CoMo catalysts when out-gassing at 373 K. FT-IR results indicated that DBT molecules mainly stand upright on the active sites (acid sites and/or transition active phases) of CoMoS/MWCNT catalyst. However, DBT aromatic molecules mainly lie flat on MWCNT and CoMoO/MWCNT.

Study of Dibenzothiophene Adsorption Over Carbon Nanotube Supported CoMo HDS Catalysts

Adsorption properties of dibenzothiophene (DBT) on a CNT (carbon nanotube) support as well as on CoMoS/CNT and CoMoO/CNT catalysts have been studied. Consecutive desorption of adsorbates was measured by TGA. The commonly used carriers AC (activated carbon), γ-Al_2O_3, and their supported catalysts (CoMoO/AC, CoMoS/AC, CoMoO/γ-Al_2O_3, CoMoS/γ-Al_2O_3)were also subjected to analysis for comparison. The acidic properties of the samples were characterized using the NH_3-TPD technique. Correlation between the adsorption of DBT and the acidic properties of the catalysts has been established. It was found that the Co-Mo catalysts in the sulfide state adsorbed much more DBT molecules than the corresponding Co-Mo catalysts in the oxide state. The CoMoS/CNT catalyst exhibited very high HDS activity and selectivity, as compared with the CoMoS/γ-Al)_2O_3 catalysts. Based on the BET data and the high hydrogenolysis/hydrogenation selectivity of the CoMoS/CNT, it was deduced that more than 90% of the DBT molecules adsorbed on the CoMoS/CNT with an end-on mode, and the surface of the CoMoS/CNT catalyst was almost fully covered with DBT molecules. Although the AC support had very high surface area and high loading ability, the AC supported CoMoS catalyst showed lower HDS activity, as compared with the CoMoS/γ-Al_2O_3 catalyst.

Stabilization of mesoporous nanocrystalline zirconia with Laponite

The mesoporous nanocrystalline zircoina was synthesized via solid state reaction——structure directing method in the presence of Laponite. The introduction of La- ponite renders the higher thermal stability and lamellar track to the zirconia. Laponite acts as inhibitor for crystal growth and also hard template for the mesostructure. The role of Laponite is attributed to the interaction between the zirconia precursors and the nano-platelets of Laponite via the bridge of hydrophilic segments of surfactant. It results in the formation of Zr-O-Mg-O-Si frameworks in the direction of Laponite layer with the condensation of frameworks dur- ing the calcination process, which contributes the higher stability and lamellar structure to the nano-sized zirconia samples.