Direct synthesis, characterization and catalytic performance of non-sulfided Ni–CsxH3−xPW12O40/SiO2 catalysts for hydrocracking of n-decane

A series of Ni–CsxH3−xPW12O40/SiO2 catalysts were prepared by direct synthesis method and characterized by BET, XRD, in situ XRD, FT-IR, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, and H2-TPD. The catalytic performance of the catalysts for the hydrocracking of n-decane with various concentrations of thiophene and pyridine was studied. The best result was obtained on direct synthesized 8%Ni–50%Cs1.5H1.5PW/SiO2 catalyst which has shown the highest activity for the hydrocracking of n-decane and excellent tolerance to the sulfur and nitrogen compounds in the feedstock, superior to the impregnated catalyst and the industrial catalyst. The highest catalytic performance of the catalyst may be due to that the direct synthesized catalysts had better dispersion, higher numbers of acid sites and stronger hydrogenation-dehydrogenation function than that of the impregnated catalyst.