This work mainly involved the investigation of the adsorption of thiophene on Cu(I)-supported HY-Al2O3. It demonstrated a high sulfur capacity of 10 mg sulfur/g sorbent when the HY/Al2O3 mass ratio was 3, loaded with 12% copper, calcined at 550 degrees C, and tested at ambient temperature. In situ Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) results indicated that the adsorption mechanisms on Cu(I)/HY-Al2O3 primarily were pi-complexation and sulfur-adsorbent (S-M; sigma) bonds. Pyridine-FTIR showed the total weak Lewis acid contribution to the Cu(I)/HY-Al2O3 adsorption desulfurization performance.