A functionalized porous carbon from super absorbent polymer serving as the support of NiMo hydrodesulfurization catalyst

Multilayered, spatially ordered and highly permeable three-dimensional cross-network porous carbons were prepared from waste superabsorbent polymer (SAP) and were used as supports for NiMo hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts. The acidified SAP-based carbon support and the corresponding catalyst were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, N 2 adsorption–desorption, NH 3 -TPD, TG, SEM, TEM, XPS and H 2 -TPR. The results show that the acidification of the SAP-based carbon support optimizes the pore structure, increases the acidic surface functional groups, enhances the interaction between the metal and the support, and significantly improves the catalytic hydrodesulfurization performance of the catalyst. Liquid phase acidification can produce defects and wrinkles on surfaces of carbon material and form interconnected voids on spongy catalyst. Further acidification with nitric acid vapor is helpful to form a three-dimensional cross-network structure with multilayer, spatial order and high permeability. Under the same metal Mo loading and high reaction temperature, HDS performance of DBT and 4,6-DMDBT of the NiMo catalyst supported on acidified SAP is better than that of the commercial NiMo catalyst. Graphical Abstract