A highly loaded and dispersed Ni2P/SiO2 catalyst for the hydrotreating reactions

Abstract: A highly loaded P-Ni/SiO2 catalyst with the high active nickel surface area was prepared by the co-precipitation method with an n-butanol drying process. Phosphorization of this catalyst with 10%PH3 in H2 at 423K resulted in a supported Ni2P catalyst P-Ni2P/SiO2. This catalyst showed the high surface area (152m2/g) with highly and uniformly dispersed Ni2P nano-particles (∼4.2nm). Thus, it possessed the high density of active sites of Ni2P as titrated by the adsorption of CO (263μmol/g). Accordingly, it exhibited excellent performance for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene, hydrodenitrogenation of quinoline and hydrogenation of tetralin in a model diesel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]