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.