Controlling the growth of ZnNiMoSx on biomass-derived porous carbon materials for deep hydrodesulfurization

Controlling the growth of small-sized catalysts with more accessible active sites and low cost is of great significance to promote their hydrodesulfurization (HDS) performance. Herein, we have synthesized an efficient ZnNiMoSx/C composite catalyst by using biomass-derived porous carbon as the support. With ZnCl2 to regulate porous structure, the obtained carbon support presents an enhanced specific surface area (1581.1 m2/g), which promotes the dispersion of ZnNiMoSx catalysts. The ZnNiMoSx on ZnNiMoSx/C-3 shows fewer layers (2–4 layers) and shorter length (about 4–5 nm), indicating more corner and edge active sites. Besides, the addition of Zn species improves the sulfurization degree of ZnNiMoSx and provides more sulfur vacancies for the enhanced HDS performance. The synthesized ZnNiMoSx/C-3 catalyst shows the kHDS value of dibenzothiophene to be 39.42 × 10−7 mol/(g s) and the direct desulfurization selectivity up to 94.5 %. This study provides a new thought for the development of HDS catalysts with cheap biomass-derived materials.