Exploring the Reaction Mechanism of H2S Decomposition with MS3 (M = Mo, W) Clusters

H2S is abundantly available in nature, and it is a common byproduct in industries. Molybdenum sulfides have been proved to be active in the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to produce hydrogen. In this study, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are carried out to explore the reaction mechanisms of H2S with MS3 (M = Mo, W) clusters. The reaction mechanism of H2S with MoS3 is roughly the same as that of the reaction with WS3, and the free-energy profile of the reaction with MoS3 is slightly higher than that of the reaction with WS3. The overall driving forces (-Delta G) are positive, and the overall reaction barriers (Delta G(b)) are rather small, indicating that such H-2 productions are product-favored. MS3 (M = Mo, W) clusters have clawlike structures, which have electrophilic metal sites to receive the approaching H2S molecule. After several hydrogen-atom transfer (HAT) processes, the final MS4 center dot H-2 (IM-4) complexes are formed, which could desorb H-2 at a relatively low temperature. The singlet product MS4 clusters contain the singlet S-2 moiety, similar to the adsorbed singlet S-2 on the surface of sulfide catalysts. The theoretical results are compared with the experiments of heterogeneous catalytic decomposition of H2S by MoS2 catalysts. Our work may provide some insights into the optimal design of the relevant catalysts.