Session: General Catalysis:

The morphology, chemical composition, and reactivity of mesoporous materials impregnated with Ni, Mo and Zn towards hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of thiophene were studied. Morphology and chemical composition were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The reactivity was studied in a gas-chromatograph based mini flow reactor using thiophene as a probe molecule. Thiophene is part of natural petroleum and it is simple enough probe molecule to obtain mechanistic molecular-level information for the hydrodesulfurization reaction. All catalysts studied appear to form the same main reaction products, although in different ratios. 1,3-butadien, butane, trans 2-butane, and cis 2-butane were identified as main products in the GC scans. This research project on hydrodesulfurization will help in the current need for cleaner fuels with a new generation of catalysts with higher reactivity and greater specificity to the desired products.

Ashish Chakradhar

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