Structure of cobalt sulfide phase in carbon-supported cobalt and cobalt-molybdenum sulfide catalysts

An X-Ray absorption spectroscopy study has been carried out on a carbon-supported Co and Co-Mo sulfide catalyst, the latter consisting of a fully sulfided Co-Mo-S (type II) phase. Detailed information on the structure of the cobalt sulfide phase is obtained by comparing the EXAFS and XANES spectra of the catalysts with those of Co9S8 and CoS2 reference compounds. It is shown that the cobalt atoms in the Co-Mo-S phase have an octahedral-like sulfur coordination while the cobalt atoms in the sulfided Co/C catalyst have a larger fraction of octahedral cobalt than Co9S8. On the basis of these results, the high HDS activity of a sulfided Co/C catalyst can be understood since it appears that the structure of the cobalt sulfide phase in Co/C is in agreement with that in Co-Mo/C. In the Co-Mo-S phase, approximately one cobalt atom is in contact with one molybdenum atom at a distance of 2.85 Å