Hydrogen spillover effect between Ni2P and MoS2 catalysts in hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene

The hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene over physically separated Ni2P//MoS2 catalyst beds was investigated. The results indicated that the hydrogen spillover effect appears between the Ni2P/Al2O3 and MoS2/Al2O3 catalysts in the hydrodesulfurization reaction, which can significantly enhance the concentration of active sites and the hydrodesulfurization rate over the MoS2 catalyst. The spillover factor on Ni2P//MoS2 is slightly higher than that on NiSx//MoS2, due to the higher hydrogen dissociation activity of Ni2P; as a result, Ni2P is a superior promoter to NiSx for the MoS2 catalyst.