Preparation, Characterization and Desulfurization of the Supported Nickel Phosphide Catalysts

Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is an important technology to produce clean fuels, in which the nickel phosphide catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic performances. In this work, a series of NixP/SBA-15 catalysts with various P/Ni molar ratios were prepared using the mesoporous molecular sieve SBA-15 as the support. The structure and surface properties of the catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 sorption analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), and in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transfer spectroscopy (DRIFTS). The catalytic performances for the HDS of dibenzothiophene (DBT) were evaluated. The results demonstrated that the NixP/SBA-15 catalysts possessed high specific surface area and the mesoporous structures, which benefited the elimination of the internal diffusion limitation in the HDS reactions. Both Ni2P and Ni12P5 phases showed catalytic activity in HDS reactions while Ni2P was more active. The optimal P/Ni molar ratio was about 0.75. The DBT conversion can reach 95.8% under the reaction condition of pressure at 3.0 MPa, H2:oil=600, WHSV at 26.7 h-1, and temperature at 340oC. In situ DRIFTS spectra indicated that the coordinative unsaturated Nid+ (0更多