Preparation of Ag/TiO2-zeolite adsorbents, their desulfurization performance, and benzothiophene adsorption isotherms

Abstract

A series of Ag/TiO₂-NaY (TY) composite adsorbents were successfully prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, BET, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. The effects of TiO₂ and Ag contents on the structure and desulfurization performance of NaY zeolite were studied. The results show that anatase phase is the main form of TiO₂ in AgTY adsorbent, and the Y-zeolite framework remained unchanged. AgTY with 6 wt % of Ag and 50 wt % of TiO₂ exhibited the best desulfurization performance with the effluent volume of 63.2 mL/g at 10 mg/L sulfur breakthrough level (desulfurization rate of 95%). The benzothiophene (BT) removal performance of the various adsorbents follows the order: NaY < TiO₂ < TY-50 < AgTY-50-6. The equilibrium data were modeled by Langmuir and Freundlich equations. The Langmuir model can describe well the adsorption isotherms of BT over AgTY.