MoNi nano-alloy loaded on carbon nanotubes with high activity and stability for the catalytic hydrogenation of petro resin

In the present work, a highly dispersed NiMo bimetallic alloy catalyst loaded on carbon nanotubes (Ni–Mo/CNTs) was synthesized by wet impregnation. The NiMo bimetallic alloy catalyst presented a superior catalytic hydrogenation performance to the Mo-free one, which obtained a colorless appearance of hydrogenated petro resin at 200 °C and 4 MPa. After nine reuses, the degree of hydrogenation over 14Ni–1Mo/CNTs (the loading ratio of Ni/Mo is 14/1) catalyst remains 90.2%. The 14Ni–1Mo bimetallic alloy catalysts exhibited stronger stability without obvious metal particle sintering, while the Ni monometallic catalysts presented significant deactivation attributed to the aggregation of metal particles. The characterization results confirm the enhanced catalytic performance derived from the metal–metal synergy of the Ni–Mo alloy particles. Besides, the bimetallic 14Ni–1Mo alloy catalyst maintains the excellent desulfurization capacity in the petro resin hydrogenation system, which may be one of the factors contributing to the excellent stability maintained by the Mo-containing catalyst. Graphical abstract