Microwave-induced activation of additional active edge sites on the MoS2 surface for enhanced Hg0 capture

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 420; pp. 439 - 445
• Main Authors: Zhao, Haitao, Mu, Xueliang, Yang, Gang, Zheng, Chengheng, Sun, Chenggong, Gao, Xiang, Wu, Tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 31.10.2017
• Subjects: Additional active edge site; Mercury capture; Microwave irradiation; MoS2 surface; Microwave irradiation; Additional active edge site; Mercury capture; MoS2 surface
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2017.05.161

[Display omitted] •Microwave was applied to create additional active sites on the MoS2 surface.•Additional active edge sites were formed after MW-IA treatment.•Hg0 capture performance was enhanced due to the additional active sites.•The basal planes of MoS2 were cracked into edge planes under MW-IA treatment.•Mechanism for the enhanced mercury capture was revealed by the DFT modeling. In recent years, significant effort has been made in the development of novel materials for the removal of mercury from coal-derived flue gas. In this research, microwave irradiation was adopted to induce the creation of additional active sites on the MoS2 surface. The results showed that Hg0 capture efficiency of the adsorbent containing MoS2 nanosheets being microwave treated was as high as 97%, while the sample prepared via conventional method only showed an efficiency of 94% in its first 180min testing. After the adsorbent was treated by microwave irradiation for 3 more times, its mercury removal efficiency was still noticeably higher than that of the sample prepared via conventional method. Characterization of surface structure of the MoS2 containing material together with DFT study further revealed that the (001) basal planes of MoS2 crystal structure were cracked into (100) edge planes (with an angle of approximately 75°) under microwave treatment, which subsequently resulted in the formation of additional active edge sites on the MoS2 surface and led to the improved performance on Hg0 capture.