Hg⁰ Capture over MoS₂ Nanosheets Containing Adsorbent: Effects of Temperature, Space Velocity, and Other Gas Species

Fossil fuel burning is the largest anthropogenic source of mercury emission, which is expected to be the first industrial sector to be addressed under Minamata Convention. In this research, the preliminary investigation has been carried out to understand the effects of temperature, space velocity, and SO₂ and O₂ on Hg⁰ capture over MoS₂ nanosheets containing elemental mercury adsorbent. The adsorbent exhibited excellent performance in the removal of Hg⁰ at a low temperature below 125°C (particularly at 50°C) with a space velocity below 9.0×10⁴ ml/(h·g). It was found that the presence of O₂ had positive effect on Hg⁰ removal whilst SO₂ had slightly negative effect on mercury capture at low temperature, such as 50°C. However, such negative effect became negligible when O₂ co-existed with SO₂ in the simulated flue gas. The research provided fundamental information for further development of the 2D graphene-like MoS₂ nanosheets containing adsorbent for mercury capture.