Probing the synergistic effect of Mo on Ni-based catalyst in the hydrogenation of dicyclopentadiene

[Display omitted] •Mo species significantly promoted the hydrogenation of DCPD and inhibited the decomposition of DCPD.•The aggregation of metallic Ni was restrained by Mo species.•The adsorption modes of DCPD on catalyst surface changed with the introduction of Mo. Mo promoted Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalysts were synthesized by an incipient wetness co-impregnation method. The micro-structure, surface composition and adsorption characteristics of these catalysts were investigated by N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, XRD, HRTEM, XPS, TPR and dicyclopentadiene-TPD. The hydrogenation of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) to endo-tetrahydrodicyclopentadiene (endo-THDCPD) was selected to evaluate the catalytic performance. The results showed Mo species improved dispersity of nickel oxide on the support surface and inhibit formation of spinel NiAl2O4. The nickel oxide could be reduced to Ni nanoparticles at relatively lower temperature because of its excellent dispersity and weakened interaction with the support. Meanwhile, the aggregation of metallic Ni on catalysts were markedly inhibited with the increasing of Mo content. Mo species also changed the adsorption mode of DCPD on Ni-based catalysts, and hence improved DCPD adsorption strength and capacity on catalysts and further changed hydrogenation mechanism of DCPD. The catalytic properties of NiMoX/γ-Al2O3 catalysts showed that the hydrogenation activity was increased by adding Mo to Ni-based catalyst within limits. When the ratio of Mo to Ni was 0.2, the NiMo0.2/γ-Al2O3 catalyst displayed the highest activity (TOF = 134.2 h−1) and the best selectivity (99.7%). Compared with Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst, the hydrogenation time reduced from 6 h to 3 h and the amount of by-product C5 fraction significantly decreased from 2.4% to 0.3%.