Formation of carbon alloys by low-energy ion doping and its application for adsorptive desulfurization

Shimoyama, Iwao   

Desulfurization is an indispensable process on hydrogen formation from fossil fuel. Adsorptive desulfurization, alternative to conventional hydrogenation desulfurization, requires development of stable activated carbon adsorbents with high performance. I study dopant dependence on thiophene adsorption for carbon alloys prepared by heteroatom doping using low-energy ion beam. I doped nitrogen and phosphorus as dopants of group 15 elements in graphite surfaces, and clarified that phosphorus is superior in thiophene adsorption to nitrogen, and that the effect of phosphorus is higher with room temperature doping than with high temperature doping by about 10 times. X-ray absorption spectroscopy indicated that local structures around phosphorus sites were different between them. I attribute the high adsorption property to formation of curved phosphorus sites prepared by room temperature doping. Above results suggest that the property of carbon alloy can be controlled by low-energy ion beam.