Effect of preparation methods on the hydrocracking performance of NiMo/Al_(2)O_(3) catalysts

In this work,NiMo catalysts with various contents of MoO_(3)were prepared through incipient wetness impregnation by a twostep method(NMxA)and onepot method(NMxB).The catalysts were then characterized by XRD,XPS,NH3TPD,H_(2)TPR,HRTEM,and N_(2)adsorptiondesorption technologies.The performance of the NiMo/Al_(2)O_(3) catalysts was investigated by hydrocracking lowtemperature coal tar.When the MoO3 content was 15 wt%,the interaction between Ni species and Al_(2)O_(3) on the NM15B catalyst was stronger than that on the NM15A catalyst,resulting in the poor performance of the former.When the MoO^(3) content was 20 wt%,MoO_(3) agglomerated on the surface of the NM20A catalyst,leading to decreased number of active sites and specific surface area and reduced catalytic performance.The increase in the number of MoS_(2) stack layers strengthened the interaction between Ni and Mo species of the NM20B catalyst and consequently improved its catalytic performance.When the MoO_(3) content reached 25 wt%,the active metals agglomerated on the surface of the NiMo catalysts,thereby directly decreasing the number of active sites.In conclusion,the twostep method is suitable for preparing catalysts with large pore diameter and low MoO_(3) content loading,and the onepot method is more appropriate for preparing catalysts with large specific surface area and high MoO_(3) content.Moreover,the NMxA catalysts had larger average pore diameter than the NMxB catalysts and exhibited improved desulfurization performance.