Properties of pure and sulfided NiMoO{sub 4} and CoMoO{sub 4} catalysts: TPR, XANES and time-resolved XRD studies

X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) was used to characterize the structural and electronic properties of a series of cobalt- and nickel-molybdate catalysts (AMoO{sub 4}.nH{sub 2}O, {alpha}-AMoO{sub 4}, {beta}-AMoO{sub 4}; A=Co or Ni). The results of XANES indicate that the Co and Ni atoms are in octahedral sites in all these compounds, while the coordination of Mo varies from octahedral in the {alpha}-phases to tetrahedral in the {beta}-phases and hydrate. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction shows a direct transformation of the hydrates into the {beta}-AMoO{sub 4} compounds (following a kinetics of first order) at temperatures between 200 and 350{degrees}C. This is facilitated by the similarities that the AMoO{sub 4}.nH{sub 2}O and H{sub 2} at temperatures between 400 and 600{degrees}C, forming gaseous water oxides in which the oxidation state of Co and Ni remains +2 while that of Mo is reduced to +5 or +4. After exposing {alpha}-NiMoO{sub 4} and {beta}-NiMoO{sub 4} to H{sub 2}S, both metals get sulfided and a NiMoS{sub x} phase is formed. For the {beta} phase of NiMoO{sub 4} the sulfidation of Mo is more extensive than for the {alpha} phase, making the former a better precursor for catalysts of hydrodesulfurization reactions