Preparation of Ce 0.6 –Cu 60 /Al 40 -[O] catalyst and role of CeO 2 /CuO in simultaneous removal of H 2 S and PH 3

Abstract H2S and PH3, emitted from industries, are harmful to the environment and humans because of their toxicity. In this study, H2S and PH3 were simultaneously removed at low temperature. It was found that the Ce0.6–Cu60/Al40-[O] catalyst showed the best results could reach 9.12 mol (H2S)/g and 8.09 mol (PH3)/g. The role of CeO2 and CuO loaded on Al2O3 was investigated by HRTEM, SEM, XRD, BET, H2-TPR, XPS and in situ FTIR. The results revealed that CuO acted as a ‘crystal magician’ to promote the power of the catalysts, while destroying the regular structure of Al2O3, which in turn negatively affected the specific surface area, pore volume, and average pore size of the catalyst. CeO2 acted as ‘fairy’ repairing the destruction to some extent and promoting the activity of the magician CuO by adjusting the grain size. Thus, CeO2 and CuO succeeded in defeating the ‘enemy’- H2S and PH3. H2S reacted with CuO to form CuS and H2O, and PH3 and O2 generated P2O5 on the carrier. Then, P2O5 was further converted to HPO3 due to the presence of H2O. CeO2 accelerated the conversion of HPO3 to H3PO4. Finally, the “crystal magician” was sacrificed to obtain the desired results.