Selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur over activated carbon-supported metal oxides

► Loading metal oxide on activated carbon promotes its efficiency for selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur greatly. ► Sorbents of selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide can be placed in the following order: Mn/AC > Cu/AC > Fe/AC > Ce/AC > Co/AC > V/AC. ► Element sulfur was the main product of the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide on the M/AC sorbents. ► Hot gas desorption with gaseous H2O/N2 was found to be an effective method for sorbent regeneration.