Abstract:
Ag/TiO
2-B
2O
3-Al
2O
3 adsorbents with different B
2O
3 loadings (e.g. 5%~20% (
w)) were prepared by impregnation. Static adsorption tests were carried out by contacting the adsorbents with commercial diesel containing 245.36mg(S)/L sulfur at ambient conditions to investigate the adsorption desulfurization activity. The results show that Ag/TiO
2-Al
2O
3 modified by B
2O
3 exhibits a great enhancement for the adsorption desulfurization activity. When B
2O
3 (15%) was loaded, 2%Ag/4%TiO
2-15%B
2O
3-Al
2O
3 (
w) could achieve the best desulfurization activity with a saturation capacity of 2.36mg(S)/g adsorbent. This is a significant achievement regarding the desulfurization efficiency, especially for commercial diesel without pretreatment. The effects of B
2O
3 on the textural properties, crystal structure and surface acidity properties of the adsorbent were studied by N
2-physisorption, O
2-chemisorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH
3-TPD), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR spectra) and
11B nuclear magnetic resonance (
11B-NMR) techniques. Correlating the characterizations with the desulfurization activity, it is found that the adsorption desulfurization activity is well related with the amounts of weak acid sites on the adsorbents. B
2O
3 modification induces larger amounts of BO
4 species and improves the surface weak acidity, resulting in a higher adsorption desulfurization activity.