A New Molybdenum Nitride Catalyst with Rhombohedral MoS2 Structure for Hydrogenation Applications

Authors

Shanmin Wang, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Yusheng Zhao, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Hui Ge, Chinese Academy of SciencesFollow
Shouli Sun, National Institute of Clean- & Low-Carbon Energy
Jianzhong Zhang, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Fangming Liu, Sichuan University
Xiaodong Wen, Chinese Academy of SciencesFollow
Xiaohui Yu, Chinese Academy of SciencesFollow
Liping Wang, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Yi Zhang, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Hongwu Xu, Los Alamos National LaboratoryFollow
Joerg C. Neuefeind, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Zhangfeng Qin, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Changfeng Chen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Changqin Jin, Chinese Academy of SciencesFollow
Yongwang Li, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Duanwei He, Sichuan University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-15-2015

Publication Title

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Volume

137

Issue

14

First page number:

4815

Last page number:

4822

Abstract

Nitrogen-rich transition-metal nitrides hold great promise to be the next-generation catalysts for clean and renewable energy applications. However, incorporation of nitrogen into the crystalline lattices of transition metals is thermodynamically unfavorable at atmospheric pressure; most of the known transition metal nitrides are nitrogen-deficient with molar ratios of N:metal less than a unity. In this work, we have formulated a high-pressure route for the synthesis of a nitrogen-rich molybdenum nitride through a solid-state ion-exchange reaction. The newly discovered nitride, 3R–MoN2, adopts a rhombohedral R3m structure, isotypic with MoS2. This new nitride exhibits catalytic activities that are three times more active than the traditional catalyst MoS2 for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene and more than twice as high in the selectivity to hydrogenation. The nitride is also catalytically active in sour methanation of syngas with >80% CO and H2 conversion at 723 K. Our formulated route for the synthesis of 3R–MoN2 is at a moderate pressure of 3.5 GPa and, thus, is feasible for industrial-scale catalyst production.

Disciplines

Astrophysics and Astronomy

Repository Citation

Wang, S., Zhao, Y., Ge, H., Sun, S., Zhang, J., Liu, F., Wen, X., Yu, X., Wang, L., Zhang, Y., Xu, H., Neuefeind, J. C., Qin, Z., Chen, C., Jin, C., Li, Y., He, D. (2015). A New Molybdenum Nitride Catalyst with Rhombohedral MoS2 Structure for Hydrogenation Applications. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 137(14), 4815-4822.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b01446