Visible‐Light‐Driven Gas‐Phase Hydrogen Sulfide Decomposition using Organic‐Inorganic Hybrid Photocatalysts

Abstract

AbstractHydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a toxic gas generated by chemical and geothermal power plants and has an unpleasant odor. Even low concentrations of H2S can cause odor problems upon release into the atmosphere; therefore, the efficient removal of H2S is required. Photocatalytic H2S decomposition methods have been extensively investigated because they are energy‐efficient; however, most methods involve the degradation of a sacrificial reagent after alkaline adsorption and gas‐phase decomposition at relatively high concentrations of 100 ppm or more. Although H2S decomposition by TiO2 under low‐concentration conditions has been reported, H2S is decomposed by ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation because TiO2 is unresponsive to visible light. In this study, a composite catalyst is synthesized to achieve the gas‐phase decomposition of low‐concentration hydrogen sulfide under visible light. By combining carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) with a cadmium sulfide (CdS) photocatalyst, a g‐C3N4/CdS catalyst is obtained, which reduces 10 ppm H2S to less than 1 ppm. This effective and simple photocatalyst is suitable for mitigating the odor issue related to H2S.