Copper sulfide microsphere for Hg0 capture from flue gas at low temperature

A CuS microsphere is facilely synthesized by using one-pot template-free hydrothermal method and applied for the capture of elemental mercury (Hg0) from flue gas at low temperature. It exhibits outstanding Hg0 removal performance due to the presence of multiform sulfur active sites and the spherical-like morphology with abundant exposed active sites. The Hg0 removal efficiencies are all nearly 100% within 25−100 °C. Besides, NO and SO2 exert negligible impacts on Hg0 adsorption over the CuS microsphere. Cu2+ and S2− ions both participate in mercury removal process, which converts Hg0 into HgS. Therefore, the CuS microsphere seems to be a promising non-carbon adsorbent for Hg0 capture from flue gas.