Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 20 No 4 (2016): 713 - 725

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/mjas-2016-2004-03

 

 

 

PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF Cu-Fe/TiO₂ PHOTOCATALYST FOR VISIBLE LIGHT DEEP DESULFURIZATION

 

(Penyediaan dan Pencirian Fotokatalis Cu-Fe/TiO₂ untuk Proses Nyahsulfur Di Bawah Cahaya Tampak)

 

Hayyiratul Fatimah Mohd Zaid¹, Chong Fai Kait¹*, Mohamed Ibrahim Abdul Mutalib²

 

¹Department of Fundamental & Applied Sciences

²Department of Chemical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak., Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: chongfaikait@petronas.com.my

 

 

Received: 17 August 2015; Accepted: 23 May 2016

 

 

Abstract

A photooxidative system for deep desulfurization of model diesel fuel was explored. Nanoparticles of anatase titania (TiO₂) were synthesized via sol-gel hydrothermal method. The TiO₂ was further modified with bimetallic Cu-Fe using wet-impregnation method followed by calcination process in order to extend the activity region of the photocatalyst to visible-light. A series of bimetallic 2.2 wt% Cu-Fe/TiO₂ photocatalysts with different Cu:Fe mass compositions were characterized for their physical, chemical and optical properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), diffuse reflectance UV-visible spectroscopy (DR-UV-Vis), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analysis. The performance of the photocatalysts was evaluated for photooxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) as the sulfur species from model oil in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, H₂O₂ under 500 W visible light illumination. The highest sulfur conversion of 82.36 % was observed for photocatalyst with 10:1 Cu:Fe mass composition.

 

Keywords: photocatalyst, titania, oxidation, desulfurization, visible light, copper-iron

 

Abstrak

Sistem fotopengoksidaan untuk proses nyahsulfur daripada model minyak diesel dikaji. Nanopartikel titania (TiO₂) dengan fasa anatas disediakan menggunakan kaedah hidrotermal sol-gel. Pengubahsuaian dengan dwilogam Cu-Fe dilakukan terhadap TiO₂ menggunakan kaedah impregnasi basah diikuti dengan proses pengkalsinan untuk melanjutkan aktiviti fotokatalis ke bahagian cahaya tampak. Siri fotokatalis dwilogam 2.2 wt% Cu-Fe/TiO₂ dengan komposisi jisim Cu:Fe yang berlainan dicirikan untuk menentukan sifat-sifat fizikal, kimia dan optik menggunakan pembelauan sinar-X (XRD), pemancaran medan mikroskopi imbasan elektron (FESEM), mikroskopi transmisi elecktron beresolusi tinggi (HRTEM), spektroskopi pantulan resapan ultraungu-tampak (DR-UV-Vis), spektroskopi transformasi Fourier inframerah (FTIR) dan analisis luas permukaan Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). Kajian terhadap fotopengoksidaan dibenzothiophene (DBT) sebagai spesis sulfur di dalam model minyak menggunakan fotokatalis tersebut dilakukan dalam kehadiran hidrogen peroksida, H₂O₂ di bawah sinaran cahaya tampak 500 W. Prestasi tertinggi penukaran sulfur yang tercapai adalah 82.36 %, daripada fotokatalis yang mempunyai komposisi jisim untuk Cu:Fe sebanyak 10:1.

 

Kata kunci: fotokatalis, titania, pengoksidaan, nyahsulfur, cahaya tampak, kuprum-besi

 

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