Effect of Different Al₂O₃ Supports on the Synthesis of Tetralin by Selective Catalytic Hydrogenation of Naphthalene

Different Al₂O₃ carriers were synthesized by co-precipitation and sol-gel method. From them, 4%NiO-20%MoO₃/Al₂O₃ catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), N₂ adsorption-desorption, NH₃ temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and H₂-temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and subsequently used for selective hydrogenation of naphthalene to high-value tetralin. The results showed that Ni-Mo/so-ge Al₂O₃ (900) exhibited better catalytic performance than Ni Mo/commercial Al₂O₃, achieving 99.56% naphthalene conversion and 99.43% tetralin selectivity.

Keywords:
Al₂O₃; catalyst; naphthalene; tetralin; selective hydrogenation