The effect of oxidation and resulfidation on (Ni/Co)MoS₂ hydrodesulfurisation catalysts

The effect of a sequential oxidation and resulfidation treatment on γ-Al₂O₃ supported (Ni/Co)MoS₂ catalyst nanoparticles was investigated using (HR)TEM, XPS, and thiophene HDS catalytic performance experiments. Analysis of the HRTEM images revealed that, after initial sulfidation and oxidation, the resulfidation treatment restored the original slab length or increased it. The chemical composition of the samples, as determined by XPS, also slightly changed: the concentration of oxidic species increased, especially for the Ni promoter atoms. Comparing the catalytic HDS activity of the samples before and after the oxidation-resulfidation treatment showed that the catalysts were more than 20% more active after resulfidation. This increase in HDS activity is ascribed to a redistribution of the (Ni/Co)MoS₂ slabs during the second sulfidation treatment, indicating a size effect.