Influence of Au promoter on hydrodesulfurization activity of thiophene over sulfided Au–Ni/SiO2 bimetallic catalysts

Au–Ni/SiO2 bimetallic catalysts with high performance on hydrodesulfurization (HDS) were prepared through consecutive impregnation route. The activities of the catalysts with different metal loading were estimated by thiophene HDS. The activity is affected by nickel and gold loadings as well as the catalyst pretreatment. It is found the presence of Au can partly inhibit the formation of nickel sulfide phase and significantly increase the HDS activity of Ni/SiO2 catalyst. The sulfided catalysts show higher activity than reduced or oxidized catalysts. Synergetic effect between gold and nickel species is preferable for high activity with low metal loadings.