Nickel–molybdenum and cobalt–molybdenum sulfide hydrogenation and hydrodesulphurization catalysts synthesized in situ from bimetallic precursors

Abstract

Unsupported nickel–molybdenum and cobalt–molybdenum sulfide catalysts are synthesized via the in situ decomposition of water-soluble bimetallic precursors in a hydrocarbon feedstock using nickel–molybdenum and cobalt–molybdenum complexes with citric, oxalic, succinic, glutaric, and tartaric acids as precursors. The sulfide catalysts are characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalyst activity in the hydrogenation of bicyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene is studied. The effect the composition of the precursor solution in the hydrocarbon feedstock emulsion has on the activity of the resulting catalyst is determined. It is shown that the activity reaches high values even after 1 h of reaction. The hydrogenation of mono-, di-, and trimethylnaphthalenes and ethylnaphthalene is studied. The optimum promoter-to-molybdenum ratio (0.25: 1) is found. It is shown that the catalyst activity does not fall during recycling, due to the elimination of the negative effect of water contained in the emulsion, which results in oxidation of the catalyst surface. After the second reaction cycle, the catalyst particles are longer and have a greater number of MoS₂ layers than the respective parameters of the catalyst particles after the first cycle. XPS shows that the content of oxygen on the catalyst’s surface falls during recycling, while the fraction of metals in the sulfide environment and the sulfur in the sulfide state grows.