Efficient Hydrodesulfurization of 4,6-Dimethyldibenzothiophene via Ni4Mo12/Al2O3 Catalysts Prepared by a One-Step Hydrothermal Polyoxometalate Dispersion Method

This paper proposes a novel one-step hydrothermal polyoxometalate (POM) dispersion method for synthesizing NiMo/Al2O3 hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts with high Ni/Mo atomic ratios. The proposed method disperses Mo12O30(μ2-OH)10H2[Ni(H2O)3]4 on the surface of Al2O3 under a hydrothermal environment, which promotes the formation of highly dispersed MoS2 slabs with increased stacking. The proximity between Ni and Mo in POM improves the decoration of MoS2 slabs by Ni, and the high Ni/Mo ratio of POM synthesized by the one-step method ensures that the corresponding catalyst possesses a high concentration of active NiMoS phases. The as-prepared POM-based NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst possesses much better activity in 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene HDS than its counterparts synthesized via the traditional incipient wetness impregnation method.