Hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophenes over molybdenum catalyst supported on TiO2–Al2O3

Composite types of TiO₂–Al₂O₃ supports, which are γ-aluminas coated by titania, have been prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), using TiCl₄ as a precursor. Then supported molybdenum catalysts have been prepared by an impregnation method. As supports, we employed γ-alumina, anatase types of titania, and composite types of TiO₂–Al₂O₃ with different loadings of TiO₂. We studied the conversion of Mo from oxidic to sulfidic state through sulfurization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The obtained spectra unambiguously revealed the higher reducibility from oxidic to sulfidic molybdenum species on the TiO₂ and TiO₂–Al₂O₃ supports compared to that on the Al₂O₃ support. Higher TiO₂ loadings of the TiO₂–Al₂O₃ composite support led to higher reducibility for molybdenum species. Furthermore, the catalytic behavior of supported molybdenum catalysts has been investigated for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) and methyl-substituted DBT derivatives. The conversion over the TiO₂–Al₂O₃ supported Mo catalysts, in particular for the 4,6-dimethyl-DBT, is much higher than that obtained over Al₂O₃ supported Mo catalyst. The ratio of the corresponding cyclohexylbenzene (CHB)/biphenyl (BP) derivatives is increased over the Mo/TiO₂–Al₂O₃. This indicates that the prehydrogenation of an aromatic ring plays an important role in the HDS of DBT derivatives over TiO₂–Al₂O₃ supported catalysts.