Effect of solid-state synthesized alumina properties on the structure and catalytic performance of NiMo catalyst in hydrodesulfurization

•γ-Al2O3 (Al2O3-AC) with high specific surface area and large pore volume was prepared by a solid-state reaction.•The as-obtained Al2O3-AC shows unique textrual and acidic properties.•According to TPR results, NiMo supported Al2O3-AC catalyst can be easily reduced.•NiMo/Al2O3-AC has higher HDS activity.

In this paper, a precursor ammonium aluminum carbonate hydroxide (AACH) was synthesized by a low-temperature solid-state reaction, then alumina labeled as Al2O3-AC was obtained by the calcination of AACH, and finally, catalyst labeled as NiMo/Al2O3-AC supported on Al2O3-AC was prepared using the method of incipient wetness impregnation. The properties of both support and catalyst were investigated by a series of characterization methods. The results indicated that Al2O3-AC had unique bimodal porous structure, high acid content and five-fold coordinated aluminum (AlO5) on the surface. Moreover, NiMo/Al2O3-AC exhibited uniform dispersion of active components, higher Brőnsted acid sites concentration and weaker metal-support interaction. Encouraged by those excellent properties of Al2O3-AC and NiMo/Al2O3-AC, the catalyst NiMo/Al2O3-AC was evaluated in the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT), showing high conversion ratio of DBT.

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