New low-temperature preparations of some simple and mixed co and ni dispersed sulfides and their chemical behavior in reducing atmosphere.
A series of simple (CoS(2), Co(9)S(8), NiS(2), NiS, Ni(3)S(2)) and mixed sulfides (NiCo(2)S(4), Ni(0.33)Co(0.67)S(2), Ni(3)Co(6)S(8), CuCo(2)S(4), Cu(0.33)Co(0.67)S(2)) was prepared using low-temperature procedures. To obtain the mixed sulfides, the mixtures of the solutions of the corresponding salts were precipitated by Na(2)S and then heated in a sulfiding atmosphere at 300 degrees C. It has been found that the product phase composition depends on the sulfiding atmosphere. Using a H(2)S/Ar mixture leads to pyrite type sulfides, whereas treatment in H(2)S/H(2) flow allowed the preparation of Ni-Co and Cu-Co thiospinels. The as prepared highly dispersed single-phase materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), elemental analysis, and BET surface area measurements.