Synthesis of Al‐Containing Spherical Mesocellular Silica Foams with Different Pore Sizes and Their Applications as Catalyst Supports for Hydrodesulfurization of Dibenzothiophene

Abstract

In the present work, a series of Al‐containing spherical mesostructured cellular silica foams (SMCFs) with different ultra‐large pore sizes were successfully synthesized by simply adjusting the mass ratio (x) of the swelling agent 1,3,5‐trimethylbenzene (TMB) to P123. The as‐synthesized Al‐SMCFs‐x were utilized as NiMo catalyst supports for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene. The characterization results showed that, compared with other studied NiMo/Al‐SMCFs‐x catalysts, the NiMo/Al‐SMCFs‐1.25 catalyst exhibited higher sulfidation degree, higher dispersions of Ni and Mo species, shorter length, and lower stacking number of MoS2 slabs. It was also found that the NiMo/Al‐SMCFs‐1.25 catalyst possessed suitable physicochemical parameters [i.e., ultra‐large pore size (27.5 nm), high surface area (383 m2 g−1), and large pore volume (1.34 cm3 g−1), resulting in the formation of more type II active sites with more brim active sites. Consequently, the NiMo/Al‐SMCFs‐1.25 catalyst displayed outstanding catalytic performance for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene.

Synthesis of zirconium modified FDU-12 by different methods and its application in dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization

“…For all the modified catalysts, the intensities of bands here are in the following order: NiMo/Zr-in-F > NiMo/Zr-im-F > NiMo/Zr-gra-F. Furthermore, the catalyst NiMo/Zr-in-F does not show some bands at 289 cm −1 , 818 cm −1 and 994 cm −1 assigned to vibration of Mo O in MoO 3 , 45 indicating that Mo species are highly dispersed on the surface of this catalyst.…”

High-Performance Bimetal NiMo Catalysts Prepared over Novel Cubic Mesoporous Silica with a Cost-Efficient Method for the Removal of Dibenzothiophene

“…Furthermore, the weakened peak intensities are probably derived from that the Al species are deposited onto the surface of CMS, consistent with the previous research. 32 It is noteworthy that the peak positions of Al-CMS-x shift to larger 2θ values with the addition of aluminum, demonstrating that the pore sizes of Al-CMS-x decrease.…”

“…All of the Al-CMS- x materials present characteristic peaks similar to those of CMS but with lower intensity, suggesting the original 3D cubic pore structures of parent CMS material are well maintained after the incorporation of aluminum, but the order degree of pore channel is slightly decreased. Furthermore, the weakened peak intensities are probably derived from that the Al species are deposited onto the surface of CMS, consistent with the previous research . It is noteworthy that the peak positions of Al-CMS- x shift to larger 2θ values with the addition of aluminum, demonstrating that the pore sizes of Al-CMS- x decrease.…”

Hierarchically Structured Porous Silica Spheres by Microemulsion/Vesicle Templating for Hydrodesulfurization of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Diesel

“…Large pores of the catalysts can effectively reduce the diffusion resistance and enhance the accessibility of the active sites to the large molecules of reactant. And the large surface area and pore volume can benefit the dispersion of active metals, resulting in the formation of more type II active sites with more brim active sites . In addition, based on the fact that there are many sulfur‐containing compounds with different molecular sizes in FCC diesel, the catalysts with multiple pore structure may greatly improve the accessibility of NiMoS active phase, then they will display the superior performance for HDS of FCC diesel.…”

“…To well analyze the differences of HDS activity over different catalysts, the Mears index was controlled less than 0.15 for removing the external diffusion, and the pellet sizes of all the studied catalysts were kept in 60–80 mesh for eliminating the internal diffusion . Moreover, according to our previous reports, the molecules of reactants could diffuse freely into the pore channels of catalyst since the pore sizes were at least five times larger than the molecular sizes of the reactants. In this research, the largest molecular diameter of sulfur‐containing compounds in FCC diesel was less than 2 nm, while the average pore size of each catalyst was greater than 20 nm, which was approximately ten times larger than the reactant molecules.…”