One-Pot Cation–Anion Double Hydrolysis Derived Ni/ZnO–Al2O3 Absorbent for Reactive Adsorption Desulfurization

One-Pot Cation–Anion Double Hydrolysis Derived Ni/ZnO–Al2O3 Absorbent for Reactive Adsorption Desulfurization

Type	Journal Article
Author	Rooh Ullah
Author	Zhanquan Zhang
URL	http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.iecr.5b04421
Volume	55
Issue	13
Pages	3751-3758
Publication	Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
Date	April 6, 2016
Abstract	Researchers prepared a series of Ni/ZnO–Al2O3 adsorbents by a one-pot cation–anion double hydrolysis (CADH) method. The reactive adsorption desulfurization (RADS) performance of the adsorbents was evaluated in a fixed bed reactor using thiophene in n-octane as a model fuel. Results revealed that the adsorbents exhibited better RADS performance than those prepared using the conventional kneading method. The thiophene conversion and sulfur capacity of adsorbents decreased with increasing the crystallization temperature. Among all tested adsorbents, the Ni/ZnO–Al2O3 sample prepared at 28 °C presented the largest adsorption capacity and highest RADS reactivity. Textual characterization results indicated that the sample Ni/ZnO–Al2O3 possessed relatively bigger pore size and larger pore volume than other samples, which may alleviate the pore shrinkage/blockage during the RADS process. A combination of XRD, UV–vis, and H2-TPR characterization results demonstrate that a high crystallization temperature favors the growth of inactive ZnAl2O4 crystals and induce the formation of more less-reducible Ni2+ ion, causing the loss of active ZnO phase and Ni0 atoms. This may account for the lower RADS activity of the adsorbent synthesized at higher crystallization temperatures.