Effect of pre-activation treatment temperature on hydrodesulfurization catalytic activity of CoMoS/KIT-6

Abstract Mesoporous silica-supported cobalt–molybdenum hydrodesulfurization catalysts have been prepared by wetness impregnation, drying and a thermal pre-treatment of impregnated support before activation. Characterization of materials was made by nitrogen adsorption, thermogravimetric analysis, Raman spectroscopy, TEM and XPS. Catalytic activity was determined by hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The results indicate that the thermal pre-treatment carried out at the lower temperature allows the formation of smaller and less stacked active phase structures, with a higher amount of CoMoS phase.