A novel synthesis of Ni2P catalysts by reducing nickel sulfide at low temperature

• A new way to prepare the Ni2P/SiO2 catalyst using metal sulfide.
• The Ni2P/SiO2 catalyst showed an excellent hydrodesulfurization activity.
• Additional sulfur element is responsible for the improved activity.

The controlled synthesis of catalyst Ni2P/SiO2 was achieved using NiS as a precursor. NiS was reduced by NaH2PO2·H2O at 350 °C for 1 h to produce Ni2P/SiO2. The catalyst was characterized using X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, N2 adsorption specific surface area measurement, and thermal gravimetric analysis. The TEM showed that the Ni2P particles in size of about 20–30 nm were highly dispersed on the carrier SiO2. The as-prepared Ni2P/SiO2 contained a small amount of sulphides. The hydrodesulfurization activity of Ni2P/SiO2 (10 wt.% Ni) was studied for dibenzothiophene at 320 °C. The as-obtained Ni2P/SiO2 using NiS as a precursor was more active than Ni2P/SiO2 synthesized with NiO as a precursor via the same route. We suppose that additional sulphide is responsible for the improved activity.