Kinetics and mechanisms of the oxidation of sulfur dioxide over titanium dioxide and nickel oxide

The reactions between SO₂ and O₂ were carried out in the presence of TiO₂ and NiO under various partial pressures of SO₂ and O₂ at temperatures from 240 to 330°C. TiO₂ and NiO were pretreated by applying an annealing effect from which the catalysts would have the different activity. The rates are the highest for TiO₂ pretreated at high temperature in the region of 400 to 600deg;C in vacuum, 1.21 × 10^?4 mmHg. In contrast, the rates are the lowest for NiO pretreated at high temperaturefrom 350 to 550°C. The data have been correlated with 1.4 and first-order kinetics for TiO₂ and NiO, respectively. A reaction mechanism to explain the data was suggested. The quantities of anionic vacancies in TiO₂ surfaces and of positive holes in NiO appeared to be paramount in determining the type of kinetics.