Temperature-programmed desorption and reduction of sulfided alumina-pillared montmorillonite Original Research Article

As a part of our fundamental studies on the acid function of catalysts for hydrocracking, alumina-pillared montmorillonite catalysts were prepared and characterized by means of temperature-programmed desorption with NH3 from sulfided catalysts (TPD-S) and temperature-programmed reduction of sulfided catalysts (TPR-S). The TPD-S and TPR-S characteristics of catalysts thus obtained have been compared with the activities of cumene cracking in a pulse-type micro reactor. Commercial hydrocracking catalysts were also characterized with similar methods and the performance of cumene cracking was tested. TPD, TPR profiles and cumene cracking activity changed after sulfiding of alumina-pillared montmorillonite. Both the chemical property changes by the heat treatment and the sulfur species adsorbed on the surface allow us to alter its acid property and cumene cracking activity as well.