Exploiting Competitive Adsorption Microenvironments over a Sulfur-Tolerant MoS ₂ Catalyst for the Utilization of Low-Grade Natural Gas

Developing an approach that utilizes CH4, CO2, and H2S in the low-grade resources of natural gas remains a critical scientific challenge, since trace concentrations of H2S can pose catalyst deactivation. The present work reports a strategy for synthesizing supported few-layer MoS2 catalysts by operando introduction of light alkanes during the high-temperature sulfidation process, and the stacking behavior of supported MoS2 layers can be regulated by tuning the competitive adsorption microenvironment governed by different adsorption behaviors among alkanes, H2S, and their reaction intermediates on the catalyst surface, thereby improving the catalytic performance for utilizing low-grade resources of CH4, CO2, and H2S. The obtained products of sulfur-containing syngas can be directly utilized for the synthesis of high-value sulfur-containing chemicals, which opens new opportunities for designing sulfur-tolerant and high-performance catalysts for utilizing low-grade resources of natural gas/shale gas.