1 INTRODUCTION

There is a global interest in the development of transition metal carbides for various applications because of their unique physical and chemical properties which combine the distinctive attributes of covalent solids, ionic crystals, and transition metals1. Levy and Boudart2 first demonstrated that tungsten carbide has comparable activity to noble metals for hydrogenolysis, hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions. This was ascribed to similarity in the electronic structure of the early transition metal carbide to those in the noble metal group. Since then, applications to other industrially important petrochemical reactions have been reported ^{2 5}. Metals carbides, however, require high temperature synthesis, which is often accompanied by poor surface areas and low porosities - a disincentive for catalysis. Oyama7 has reviewed the preparation of high surface area metal carbides and recent studies at Oxford ^{8 9} have also shown that physiochemical property and ultimate catalytic activity are determined by the type of carburising (hydrocarbon) agent. Typically, these metal carbides are obtained from metal oxide precursors.

Studies in our laboratory have also shown that high surface area MoS ₂ catalyst for catalytic H ₂S decomposition may be obtained via precipitation from homogeneous solution (PFHS) of the sulphide compound on the support ^{10 12}. These catalysts are thermally stable even at 873 1073K. Thus it seems logical to employ PFHS - synthesized metal sulphides as starting material in place...