Electrochemical hydrodesulfurization technology is a promising approach to remove sulfur compounds from fossil fuels, having the advantages of moderate operating condition, low energy consumption, and high automation. This method is still in the research and development stage, and the desulfurization efficiency needs to be improved. Here, we report an attempt to improve the desulfurization efficiency by increasing the active sites of catalysts. The amorphous MoS_x are chosen as the catalysts and synthesized by the electrodeposition method at diffusion-limited conditions, which is regulated by either increasing the deposition potential or by adding glycerol into the electrolyte. With the decrease of chemical diffusion, the morphology of MoS_x catalysts changes from continuous lamellae to dispersed nanoparticles on the surface of carbon cloth. Owing to the extensive exposure of the bridging sulfur groups S₂^2– and undercoordinated Mo(V) regions, the MoS_x particles exhibit a more than two times increase of the desulfurization efficiency, reaching 22.5% in the electrochemical hydrodesulfurization. This study shows that structure optimization of catalysts by diffusion control is a facile and general strategy to improve reaction efficiency, which may be applied to various catalysts.

中文翻译：

---

通过扩散限制控制 MoSx 催化剂的尺寸用于电催化加氢脱硫

电化学加氢脱硫技术是一种很有前景的脱除化石燃料中含硫化合物的方法，具有操作条件温和、能耗低、自动化程度高等优点。该方法仍处于研发阶段，脱硫效率有待提高。在这里，我们报告了通过增加催化剂的活性位点来提高脱硫效率的尝试。选择无定形 MoS _x作为催化剂，在扩散限制条件下通过电沉积法合成，通过增加沉积电位或向电解质中添加甘油来调节。随着化学扩散的减少，MoS _x的形貌催化剂在碳布表面从连续的薄片变为分散的纳米颗粒。由于桥接硫基团 S ₂ ^2-和配位不足的 Mo(V) 区域的广泛暴露，MoS _x颗粒的脱硫效率提高了两倍以上，在电化学加氢脱硫中达到了 22.5%。该研究表明，通过扩散控制优化催化剂的结构是提高反应效率的一种简便而通用的策略，可应用于各种催化剂。