Molybdate catalysts prepared by a novel impregnation method: Effect of citric acid as a ligand on the catalytic activities

Molybdate, nickel-molybdate and cobalt-molybdate/γ-alumina catalysts were prepared by an impregnation method using citric acid as well as ammonia as ligands. Molybdenum structures in the impregnating solutions and on the sulfided catalysts were characterized by EXAFS and XPS. Agglomerated molybdenum octahedra existed in the impregnating solutions containing citric acid, in contrast to the monomeric molybdenum tetrahedra obtained when using ammonia. The nickel-molybdenum catalyst prepared by using citric acid was inferior to the one prepared by using ammonia in terms of both hydrogenation and HDN activities, which might be due to a decrease in the amount of active Ni-Mo-S phase. On the other hand, the cobalt-molybdenum catalyst prepared using citric acid was superior to the one prepared using ammonia in terms of HDS activity. A decrease in the lateral size of MoS₂-like crystallites might attribute to an increase in the HDS activity.