Enhancement effects of ultrasound assisted in the synthesis of NiAl hydrotalcite for carbonyl sulfide removal

• US pretreatment can improve NiAl hydrotalcite-derived oxides significantly.
• The possible mechanism of enhancement effects of ultrasonic assisted.
• An efficient method using ultrasound irradiation to get solids with better activity.

Ultrasonic effect in the synthesis of catalysts of NiAl oxides prepared starting from the coprecipitation method of a hydrotalcite structure was evaluated in this work. Removal of carbonyl sulfide (COS) at low temperature over the hydrotalcite-derived oxides was studied. The samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), N2 adsorption/desorption techniques, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption (TPD). It is found that hydrotalcite treated with ultrasonic has smaller average crystallite size and higher particle dispersion compared to hydrotalcite without ultrasonic treatment. As a result, mixed oxides derived from hydrotalcite treated with ultrasonic show more developed pore structure which is good for the physical adsorption of gaseous pollutant. The result of desulfuration test showed that removal efficiency of COS on the NiAl mixed oxides prepared by ultrasonic method (30 min) is greater than that on the catalyst prepared without the ultrasonic irradiation assistance with the same aging time. One important reason for the high activity is that when the ultrasonic is used the number of weak basic sites (OH− groups) and moderate basic sites (M–O) was increased, whereas the number of strong basic sites (O2−) was decreased. Therefore, ultrasonic treatment promoted the COS hydrolysis and suppress the poisoning of the catalyst.