Hydrocracking of vacuum residue into lighter fuel oils using nanosheet-structured WS 2 catalyst

•A WS2 nanosheet was used as a catalyst in the hydrocracking of vacuum residue.•The WS2 nanosheet was applied as a dispersed colloidal catalyst in a batch reactor.•The S.L. WS2 catalyst exhibited the best hydrocracking activity.•The yield of commercial liquid fuels increased with the use of the S.L. catalyst.•Improvement in the API gravity and metal removal activity was observed.