Organosulfur adsorbents by self-assembly of titania based ternary metal oxide nanofibers. Issue 20 (3rd May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sui, Ruohong; Carefoot, Sarah K.; Lavery, Christopher B.; Deering, Connor E.; Lesage, Kevin L.; Chou, Nancy; Rose, Chelsea J.; Marriott, Robert A.
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 5:Issue 20(2017)
• Page Start: 9561
• Page End: 9571
• Publication Date: 2017-05-03
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c7ta01856h
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : One-pot sol–gel synthesis of ternary metal oxides for selective adsorption of thiols from H2 S/CO2 -containing gas. Abstract : By doping with secondary and tertiary species, the electron configuration of titanium oxide can be tuned for the selective adsorption of natural gas contaminants such as thiols. In this study, we attempted to co-incorporate copper group metals/oxides and lanthanum oxide within titania nanofibers via linear poly-condensations of multiple metal acetate complexes. In all cases, a sol–gel synthesis in heptane allowed the nanofibers to randomly pack, forming 3 dimensional network bundles. The resulting nanostructures were characterized using electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, N2 physisorption and Raman spectroscopy. Multicomponent breakthrough studies with three thiols, H2 S, CO2 and CH4 show that doping a TiO2 matrix with copper group metals/oxides and La2 O3 increased the thermal stability of anatase crystallites and nanostructures. We note that Au and Ag2 O accumulated on the surfaces of the doped materials, where the La2 O3 doping contributed more to the materials thermal stability. The Cu and La doped material was found to be the best adsorbent for thiols with remarkably high selectivity, demonstrating potential applications in industrial gas treatment. In addition, xerogel adsorbents through the random packing of linear structures provide the advantage of a macro-porous bulk material, which is less susceptible to fouling.