Beneficial interaction of copper oxide and fibrous silica for enhanced photocatalytic desulphurization

Abstract

Photocatalytic desulphurization (PDS) is considered as a promising technique to remove hazardous sulphur compounds from fuel oil due to its high catalytic activity, safety, low energy consumption, and low cost. In this work, fibrous silica KCC-1 was synthesized by hydrothermal method followed by incorporation of CuO by electrolysis. The catalyst was used for PDS of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The presence of bicontinuous concentric lamellar morphology with uniform spherical shape was confirmed by FESEM analysis. The phase and crystallinity of the catalysts was investigated by XRD, while the band gap energy was determined by UV-Vis DRS. The PDS performance of CuO/KCC-1 was compared with KCC-1, CuO/SiO2 and SiO2. It was observed that the photoactivity of CuO/KCC-1 was higher than other catalysts (62.6%), which is mainly due to its fibrous morphology and appropriate band gap energy, as well as synergistic role of both CuO and KCC-1. This fibrous type catalyst could be a promising candidate for environmental purification specifically in the sulphur removal.