The removal of t-butylmercaptan (TBM) from gas fuel has been investigated by using sorption. The sorbents, Cu/Al2O3, ZnO/Al2O3 and Cu/ZnO/Al2O3, were prepared by co-precipitation method. As the sorption temperature increased to 250 degrees C, the sorption capacity of TBM on Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 increased up to 8.84mmol/g, and then decreased. In the comparison of sorbents, the order of sorption capacity was Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 > Cu/Al2O3 > ZnO/Al2O3 indicating the increase of that under co-existence of Cu and ZnO. The maximum crystallinity of CuS and ZnS was showed after the sorption of TBM at 250 degrees C using Cu/ZnO/Al2O3. The increased crystallinity of CuS and ZnS resulted in decreases in surface areas. The results imply that the sulfur compound is decomposed by both Cu and ZnO and subsequently S was bound to Cu and Zn. (c) 2007 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.