Active phase morphology engineering of NiMo/Al2O3 through La introduction for boosting hydrodesulfurization of 4,6-DMDBT

Abstract

Herein, we designed and constructed a mesoporous LaAlOx via a solvent evaporation induced self-assembly protocol. The structure and physicochemical property of the corresponding NiMo supported catalyst was analyzed by a set of characterizations, and its catalytic activity was investigated for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene. It has confirmed that the incorporation of La profoundly facilitate the generation of “Type II” NiMoS phase by weakening the interaction of Mo–O–Al leakage and promoting the sulfidation of both Ni and Mo oxides as well as changing the morphology of Ni promoted MoS2 slabs, thereafter boosting the HDS performance substantially. The finding here may contribute to the fundamental understanding of structure-activity in ultra-deep desulfurization and inspire the advancement of highly-efficient HDS catalyst in future.