Design, synthesis and characterization of vanadia-doped iron-oxide pillared montmorillonite clay for the selective catalytic oxidation of H2S.

A series of vanadia-doped iron-oxide-pillared clays (V/Fe-PILCs) with various amounts of vanadia were prepared and their performance for the selective catalytic oxidation of H(2)S was investigated. V/Fe-PILCs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface area- and pore volume measurements, chemical analysis, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and temperature-programmed reduction by H(2) (H(2)-TPR). V/Fe-PILCs showed better catalytic performance than Fe-PILC without any significant SO(2) emissions. The H(2)S conversion over V/Fe-PILCs increased with increasing vanadia content up to 7 wt.%. However, it decreased at higher vanadia loading due to the decrease in surface area and the formation of the crystalline V(2)O(5) phase. The presence of water vapor in the reactant mixture resulted in a decrease of H(2)S conversion.