Porous materials for low-temperature H2S-removal in fuel cell applications

Abstract

• Evaluation of experimental conditions for H 2 S adsorption capacity measurements. • Desulphurisation performance of porous materials at room temperatures is compared. • Identification of high performing metal oxides, activated carbon, zeolites and silicas. • Analysis of metal–organic frameworks with high desulphurisation performance. • Discussion of future research directions for room temperature desulphurisation. When fuel gases (H 2 and CH 4 ) for fuel cells are produced from fossil fuels and biomass, there is a high possibility of presence of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S). Because H 2 S can poison fuel cells and cause long lasting damage, it is necessary to rigorously remove H 2 S from fuel gases before use in fuel cells. With the advantages of high efficiency and low energy consumption, desulphurisation via adsorption at low temperatures has attracted the attention of many researchers and has seen recent advances. This review compares the performance of commonly-studied porous materials (metal oxides, activated carbon, zeolites, silica, and metal–organic frameworks (MOF)) that are used for adsorption at low temperatures. Test conditions such as feed gas compositions, feed gas velocity, and breakthrough concentration threshold are considered when comparing the adsorption performance of the materials. High performing materials from each material category are identified and future research directions are discussed.