Metal Phosphides as High-performance Hydrotreating Catalysts

Metal phosphides, including Ni2P, MoP, WP, and CoP, are novel active hydrotreating catalysts with high potential as high-performance catalysts due to their higher hydrogenation activity, which is essential in the hydrodesulfurization of bulky sulfur-containing molecules and in hydrodenitrogenation, compared to conventional Mo and W-based metal sulfide catalysts. However, the preparation of metal phosphides is more challenging than that of metal sulfides. In the present study, three preparation methods, including in-situ reduction, H-2-plasma reduction, and sulfidation-reduction, are introduced, and the effects of preparation conditions on the structure and catalytic performances in hydrodesulfurization are briefly discussed. In addition, H2S passivation is compared with O-2 passivation for the preparation of Ni2P catalysts.