PtNi Bimetallic Nanoparticles on MgAlO Microflower Supports as Adsorbents for Desulfurization of Benzene

Palladium adsorbent is used in the ultradeep desulfurization process of benzene to prepare refined benzene, which is an important commercial chemical raw material in the petrochemical industry. However, with the increasing cost of palladium adsorbent, the wide application of palladium adsorbent in the benzene refining process is greatly limited. Here, we rationally designed PtNi/MgAlO adsorbent using the 3D nanomicroflower structure of MgAlO as the support and PtNi bimetallic nanoparticles as the active component. Various characterization techniques including BET, XRD, SEM, TEM, TPR, XPS, and N2-TPD were used to investigate the correlation between the adsorption performance and the microstructure of the adsorbent. The results show that the PtNi/MgAlO adsorbent exhibited an excellent adsorption sulfur capacity of 1.74 mg/g. Also, nearly 100% thiophene elimination was observed for 382 h, better than the commercial Pd/Al2O3 adsorbent. It shows great potential application in the ultradeep desulfurization of benzene.