Study on the synthesis of composite NiO-ZnO nanowire adsorbent and its performance for desulfurization

The composite NiO-ZnO nanowires for desulfurization were synthesized using hydrothermal method. The effects of the ratio of ethanol to water in the solvent used for the nanowire synthesis were studied. The phase structure and morphology of the nanowire adsorbents were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The desulfurization performance of the adsorbents were studied at the temperature of 350℃, pressure of 1.0 MPa, the volume space velocity of 6 h^-1, and H₂/oil volume ratio of 60. The results showed that the composite NiO-ZnO nanowire adsorbent has better morphology than others, the active catalytic site was determined to be Ni which seemed to have better dispersion and smaller particle size, and the Ni-Zn alloy preferred to desulfurization was formed, so its desulfurization performance was significantly improved. The desulfurization rate was increased up to 98%. After five circles of regeneration, the activity of the composite NiO-ZnO nanowire adsorbent can still maintain 90 h, which indicated that it possesses better reusability.