Sulfided Mo/Al2O3 hydrodesulfurization catalyst prepared by ethanol-assisted chemical deposition method

In this communication, we report a novel strategy to prepare a MoS2/Al2O3 hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalyst by thermally treating a MoS3/Al2O3 precursor in H-2 atmosphere. In our approach, the active phase precursor MoS3 was first prepared using thioacetamide and sodium molybdate as sources of S and Mo, respectively, and ethanol as a dispersant. The precursor was deposited onto the surface of a gamma-Al2O3 support and heat-treated to form the catalyst. The catalyst was characterized by N-2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The HDS activity of the catalyst was assessed using dibenzothiophene as a model reactant. The catalyst possessed larger specific surface area and pore volume, higher dispersion and degree of sulfidation of Mo species, and shorter and more suitable stacking of MoS2 slabs, resulting in superior catalytic activity compared with a catalyst with the same metal content prepared by the conventional impregnation method. Ethanol could disperse the precursor MoS3 particles via "S center dot center dot center dot H-O" H-bonding to lessen their aggregation. (C) 2013, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.