Catalytic oxidation of CS₂ over atmospheric particles and oxide catalysts

Abstract

The catalytic oxidization of CS₂ over atmospheric particles and some oxide catalysts was explored through FT-IR, MS and a fixed-bed stainless steel reactor. The results show that atmospheric particles and some oxide catalysts exhibited considerable oxidizing activities for CS₂ at ambient temperature. The reaction products are mainly COS and elemental sulfur, even CO₂ on some catalysts. Among the catalysts, CaO has the strongest catalytic activity for oxidizing CS₂. Fe₂O₃ is weaker than CaO. The catalytic activity for Al₂O₃ reduces considerably compared with the former two catalysts, and SiO₂ the weakest. Atmospheric particle samples’ catalytic activity is between Fe₂O₃’s and Al₂O₃’s. The atmospheric particle sample collected mainly consists of Ca(Al₂Si₂O₈) · 4H₂O, which is also the main component of cement. COS, the main product, is formed by the catalytic oxidization of CS₂ with adsorbed “molecular” oxygen over the catalysts’ surfaces. The concentration of adsorbed oxygen over catalysts’ surfaces may be the key factor contributed to the oxidizing activity. It is indicated that CS₂ could be catalytically oxidized over atmospheric particles, which induced that this reaction may be another important source of atmospheric COS from CS₂.