Atomic layer deposition of nano-scale molybdenum sulfide within a metal–organic framework for highly efficient hydrodesulfurization

Abstract

Molybdenum sulfide (MoS₂) exhibits extremely encouraging performance in applications of hydrodesulfurization (HDS). However, due to its low active sites, incomplete sulfidation and accounting for more than 70% of the quality of the supported catalyst for alumina, without playing a catalytic role, the γ-Al₂O₃ supported catalyst has low reactivity and high cost. Here, we selectively functionalized MoS₂ on the nodes of a metal–organic framework (MOF, NU-1000) through atomic layer deposition (ALD) and explored its catalytic performance in the HDS of dibenzothiophene. The AIM-60 (AIM = ALD in a metal–organic framework) catalyst obtained was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption–desorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). The conversion rate of the AIM-60 material is 86.7% at 250 °C and 3 MPa, which is much better than that of traditional MoS₂/γ-Al₂O₃ (8.6%) with the same loading. In addition, the AIM-60 catalyst shows a preference for the direct desulfurization (DDS) pathway, and it can directly convert dibenzothiophene to biphenyl, with excellent stability in real-life tests. The results indicate that AIM-60 with high activity and high stability represents a new class of HDS catalyst.