Mesoporous H-AlMCM-41 supported NiO-MoO 3 catalysts for hydrodenitrogenation of o-toluidine : I. Effect of MoO 3 loading

Abstract

The mesoporous molecular sieve, H-AlMCM-41 (Si/Al = 100) was synthesized hydrothermally and used as support for the preparation of series of sequentially impregnated NiO-MoO 3 catalysts. Various amounts of MoO 3 (12, 18, 24 and 30 wt.%) along with of 7 wt.% of NiO were loaded in order to optimize the MoO 3 loading level for obtaining maximum HDN activity. These catalysts were well-characterized by physico-chemical techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), N 2 adsorption–desorption, SEM, FT-Raman spectroscopy, UV–vis DRS and FT-IR spectra of CO adsorption and tested for hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) of o-toluidine. The change in dispersion with MoO 3 loading was studied by FT-IR spectra of CO adsorbed samples. HDN activities of various NiO-MoO 3 catalysts were evaluated and the activities are accounted in terms of physico-chemical characteristics of the catalytic materials. Catalyst with 7 wt.% NiO-24 wt.% MoO 3 showed maximum HDN activity when compared to other catalysts and its enhanced activity due to the fine dispersion of MoO 3 as well as due to formation of an additional Ni–Mo–O phase from AlMCM-41, as revealed by FT-IR of CO adsorption, FT-Raman and XRD studies.