Activated boron nitride ultrathin nanosheets for enhanced adsorption desulfurization performance

An activated boron nitride (BN) adsorbent was prepared via a facile rapid pyrolysis reaction. The as prepared activated BN displayed unique atomic arrangements with short-range order and long-range disorder, which possessed more surface active atoms. It was found that activated BN adsorbent displayed an outstanding adsorptive desulfurization performance towards dibenzothiophene (DBT) (42.2 mgS g(-1) adsorbent for the 500 ppm sulfur model oil), which was higher than that of graphene-like BN adsorbent (30.0 mgS g(-1) adsorbent). Besides, the obtained activated BN adsorbent exhibited excellent selectivity and recyclability for removal of sulfur compound. These results demonstrated that activated BN is a desired adsorbent for adsorptive desulfurization and this strategy can be extended to the purposive preparation of other efficient adsorbents. (C) 2018 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.