Page 95 - AJWEP-22-6

Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution. Vol. 22, No. 6 (2025), pp. 89-102.
doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025250204

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Enhanced adsorption desulfurization performance of
metal-modified Y zeolites

Jiefei Li *, Xianrong Meng , Mingyang Song , and Mei Xue *
2
1
1
1
1 Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, School of Petrochemical Engineering, Shenyang University of
Technology, Liaoyang, Liaoning, China
2 Department of Materials Physics and Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia
University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China
*Corresponding authors: Jiefei Li (lijf@sut.edu.cn);
Mei Xue (setsubai@sina.cn)

Received: June 20, 2025; Revised: July 22, 2025; Accepted: July 25, 2025; Published online: August 18, 2025

Abstract: Y-zeolite is a promising adsorbent for removing organic sulfides from fuel. However, its application is
limited by low adsorption capacity for refractory sulfur compounds. In this study, metal-modified Y-zeolite (MY)
adsorbents, incorporating Ru³⁺, Bi³⁺, Zr⁴⁺, and Sb³⁺ ions, were successfully synthesized via a solid-state reaction
method. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that metal ion incorporation did not alter the crystalline framework
of Y-zeolite. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms revealed that the Ru-modified Y-zeolite (RuY) possessed a
notably high specific surface area of 735.23 m²/g, whereas NH₃-temperature programmed desorption (NH₃-TPD)
measurements showed that it also had the highest concentration of acidic sites (2.375 mmol/g). The effects of metal
ion type, loading amount, and oxidation state on thiophene removal were systematically investigated via batch
adsorption experiments. Sulfur removal efficiency increased in the following order: HY (43%) <BiY-1 (53%) <SbY-
1(62%) <ZrY-1 (63%) <RuY-1 (68%). The RuY adsorbent exhibited the best adsorption performance, with Ru
4+
ions acting as the primary active sites. The adsorption behavior followed the Langmuir isotherm model, indicating
a monolayer adsorption process. Sulfur removal efficiency correlated positively with the sulfur–metal (S–M) bond
strength in MY adsorbents. Compared to unmodified HY, MY adsorbents also showed improved selectivity for
thiophene in the presence of competing toluene. The superior desulfurization performance of RuY is attributed to its
smaller ionic radius (62 pm), higher charge (Ru⁴⁺), larger specific surface area, and abundance of Lewis acid sites.

Keywords: Adsorption; Metal ion; Y-zeolite; Thiophene; Desulfurization

1. Introduction are vital for fuel cells to prevent catalyst poisoning.
4
Among various desulfurization methods, adsorption has
Commercial gasoline and diesel typically contain attracted considerable attention for its ability to achieve
300–500 parts per million by weight (ppmw) of deep desulfurization under ambient conditions. 5
organic sulfur compounds, contributing to sulfur oxide Metal ion-modified porous materials employed in
emissions, acid rain, and particulate matter pollution. the adsorption processes include zeolite, mesoporous
1,2
Removing these compounds is crucial, but conventional materials, activated carbon, silica gel, alumina, mixed
hydrodesulphurization (HDS), though effective for metal oxides, and metal organic frameworks (MOF ). 6-13
S
sulfides, struggles to eliminate thiophene and its Y-zeolite, a prototypical large-pore molecular sieve,
alkylated derivatives. Ultra-low sulfur fuels (<1 ppmw) has attracted considerable attention in adsorptive
3

Volume 22 Issue 6 (2025) 89 doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025250204