Study on the removal of thiophene sulfides by porous core-shell SiO2 @Cu/Ni

Abstract Porous SiO2@Cu/Ni core-shell nanomaterials were prepared by the sol-gel method. The results of HADDF-STEM and XRD indicated that Cu and Ni were evenly distributed on the surface of the SiO2 supporter. XPS and H2-TPR showed that the chemical state of Cu and Ni were conducive to the desulfurization reaction. The catalytic performance of samples was evaluated through the desulfurization ratios using 4, 6-Dimethyldibenzothiophene as the model sulfide. The effect of metal loading, Ni:Cu ratios, and temperature on the desulfurization, the selectivity of sulfone and 3-3′-dimethylbiphenyl was investigated. The results suggested that the desulfurization activities of 20 wt % SiO2@Cu/Ni were much higher than those of the other catalysts. Due to the synergistic effect among Cu, Ni, and the supporter, the desulfurization rate and selectivity of sulfone and 3-3′-dimethylbiphenyl were all 100% under the suitable conditions. And after the reaction, ICP-OES results showed that the catalyst composition was unchanged, indicating that SiO2@Cu/Ni had good stability while maintaining excellent catalytic performance. Also, the desulfurization mechanism of SiO2@Cu/Ni core-shell nanomaterials was proposed in the present work.