A facile and low-cost synthesis of MoS2 for hydrodeoxygenation of phenol

Abstract

MoS2, Ni-doped MoS2, and Ni-doped MoS2/Al2O3 were synthesized by using thiourea as an organosulfur source with simple and low cost methodology to convert phenol, a model compound of lignin biomass into cyclohexane via catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). As-synthesized catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis, N2 sorption, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure. The phenol conversion was achieved better in semi-amorphous MoS2 than the crystalline one. In addition, all developed MoS2 showed high selectivity toward HDO of phenol than hydrogenation of phenol, leading to ~90% of cyclohexane selectivity in Ni-doped MoS2.