title: In situ incorporation of nickel nanoparticles into the mesopores of MCM-41 by manipulation of solvent-solute interaction and its activity toward adsorptive desulfurization of gas oil.
abstract: In this contribution, different amounts of nickel were incorporated into the mesopores of MCM-41 via an in situ approach. A hydrophobic nickel precursor was incorporated into the nanochannels of mesoporous silica by manipulation of solvent-solute interaction. The synthesized material was characterized using X-ray diffraction, nitrogen physisorption, temperature programmed reduction, and transmission electron microscopy. The results implicate the formation of MCM-41 with well-ordered hexagonal structure and establish also the presence of nickel nanoparticles inside the nanochannels of mesoporous silica. Adsorptive desulfurization of gas oil was conducted using the nickel-incorporated MCM-41 samples. The effects of nickel concentration, temperature of process and feed flow rate on the desulfurization process were examined. The MCM-41 containing 6 wt.% of nickel had both the highest breakthrough sulfur adsorption capacity and total sulfur adsorption capacity, which were 0.69 and 1.67 mg sulfur/g adsorbent, respectively. The breakthrough sulfur adsorption capacity was almost regained after reductive regeneration of spent adsorbent. The obtained results suggest that the method applied for the synthesis of Niy/MCM resulted in formation of well-dispersed, accessible and small nickel nanoparticles incorporated into the pores of MCM-41 which might be an advantage for adsorption of refractory sulfur compounds from low sulfur gas oil.
authors.affiliation: Analytical Division, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. samadi@umz.ac.ir
authors.forename: Abdolraouf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samadi-Maybodi
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teymouri
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vahid
authors.forename: Aliakbar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miranbeigi
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D005740:Gases; D006859:Hydrogen; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D009821:Oils; D016062:Porosity; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; C509968:MCM-41; D009821:Oils; D012997:Solvents; D013455:Sulfur; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D009532:Nickel; D006859:Hydrogen; D009584:Nitrogen