Sulfur adsorption and sulfidation of transition metal carbides as hydrotreating catalysts

The adsorption of sulfur and sulfidation of transition metal carbides was investigated on extended surfaces MC(0 0 1) (M = Ti, V, Mo, Ta), M14C13 (M = Ti, V, Mo) nanocrystals and M8C12 (M = Ti, V, Mo) metcar nanoparticles. M8C12 metcars were found to be the best catalysts in this study for reactions involving sulfur and sulfur-containing molecules, being able to resist the sulfidation that leads to degradation of the carbides, while still bonding sulfur or breaking C-S bonds.