The application relates to a hydrogenation catalyst and a preparation method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of catalysts. The method comprises the following steps: 1) soaking
sepiolite in deionized water,
settling, and removing impurities to obtain substance a; 2) uniformly mixing the substance a with
metatitanic acid, adding a pore-expanding agent, a binder and water, shaping,
drying, and calcining to obtain a carrier b; 3) preparing a
mixed solution of
cobalt salt and
nickel salt, adding
molybdenum salt, a complexing agent and a
solvent to obtain an impregnation liquid c, impregnating the carrier b in the impregnation liquid c,
drying, and calcining to obtain a mixture d; and 4) preparing an impregnation liquid e by taking
nickel salt,
ammonium hydrogen phosphate and a
solvent, impregnating the mixture d in the impregnation liquid e,
drying, and calcining to obtain the hydrogenation catalyst. The
active component of the prepared hydrogenation catalyst is distributed in multiple
layers from the outside of the carrier to the inside of the carrier, the outermost layer of the core is
nickel phosphide, the middle layer of the shell is active
metal components of
nickel oxide and
molybdenum oxide, and the core is
molybdenum oxide and
cobalt oxide. The hydrogenation catalyst can realize
oxidation state activation and has high low-temperature activity.