6. Main reactions for characterizing sulfide catalysts

The model reactions used to characterize sulfide catalysts are also reactions used to test catalyst activity and stability. These are essentially hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodeazotization (HDN) reactions. Sulfide catalysts are also used as hydrogenation catalysts. With these reactions, catalyst characteristics such as dispersion, promotion and support effect are sought.

While the catalyst can be classically characterized prior to sulfurization, characterization of sulfidic solids is often difficult. Data from catalytic tests can be usefully compared with characterizations carried out in parallel by high-resolution TEM or by CO or NO adsorption followed by IR spectroscopy.