Dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization over PdPt/Al 2 O 3 eTiO 2 . Influence of Ti-addition on hydrogenating properties Jos  e Escobar a, * , Sara Nú ~ nez b, c , Alejandro Montesinos-Castellanos d , Jos  e Antonio de los Reyes b , Yatziri Rodríguez d , Oscar A. Gonz  alez b, e a Instituto Mexicano del Petr oleo, Eje Central L azaro C ardenas 152, San Bartolo Atepehuacan, Gustavo A. Madero, C.P. 07730 M exico, D.F., M exico b Departamento de Ingeniería de Procesos e Hidr aulica, Universidad Aut onoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, San Rafael Atlixco No.186, C.P. 09340, M exico, D. F., M exico c Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Veracruzana, Av. Universidad km. 7.5, Col. Santa Isabel, C.P. 96538, Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, M exico d Escuela Nacional de Posgrado en Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnologías, Instituto Tecnol ogico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Av. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, Col. Tecnol ogico, C.P. 64849, Monterrey, Nuevo Le on, M exico e Departamento de Ingeniería en Control y Automatizaci on, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mec anica y El ectrica, Instituto Polit ecnico Nacional, Av. Polit ecnico s/n, Col. Zacatenco, C.P. 07738, M exico, D.F., M exico highlights graphical abstract  Texture and Lewis acidity increased with Ti-content in alumina-titania supports.  Supported Pd:Pt dispersion augmented with Ti concentration in Al 2 O 3 eTiO 2 carriers.  Enhanced dibenzothiophene hydro- desulfurization by increased metallic dispersion.  Enhanced selectivity to hydrogena- tion route over alumina-titania- supported Pd:Pt. article info Article history: Received 9 January 2015 Received in revised form 23 December 2015 Accepted 3 January 2016 Available online 14 January 2016 Keywords: Amorphous materials Oxides Electron microscopy (TEM) Infrared spectroscopy (IR) abstract The effect of Ti addition in alumina carriers on the catalytic properties of corresponding supported-PdPt materials, as tested in liquid-phase dibenzothiophene (DBT) hydrodesulfurization (HDS) was studied. To that end, Al 2 O 3 eTiO 2 materials (at Al/Ti ¼ 25, 10, and 2, mol ratio) were synthesized by low-temperature solegel method. Point of zero charge decreased by augmenting titania concentration in binary oxides, as to that of Al 2 O 3 . On the other hand, textural properties and Lewis acidity (as determined by FTIR of adsorbed pyridine) increased with TiO 2 content in mixed supports. Noble metals were impregnated (nominal 1 wt%, Pd:Pt 4:1 mol ratio) on mixed supports and on reference alumina single oxide. Textural and surface modifications of alumina substrate provoked by titania addition resulted in improved metallic particles dispersion, as observed by High Resolution-TEM. Enhanced catalytic performance of noble metals-based materials with carriers of higher Ti-content was registered when tested in HDS reaction. In those cases, higher selectivity to products from hydrogenation reaction pathway was observed as well. Augmented medium and strong surface acidity and improved textural properties of carriers of enhanced TiO 2 concentration seemed to play a major role in obtaining noble metals catalysts of improved hydrogenating properties. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: jeaguila@imp.mx (J. Escobar). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Materials Chemistry and Physics journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matchemphys http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.matchemphys.2016.01.004 0254-0584/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Materials Chemistry and Physics 171 (2016) 185e194