High pressure cell for edge jumping X-ray absorption spectroscopy: Applications to industrial liquid sulfidation of hydrotreatment catalysts

•High pressure cell developed to study the liquid sulfidation of HDS catalysts by XAS.•Co and Mo local orders are studied alternatively during the same reaction.•The sulfidation mechanism depends on the activation process.•Co and Mo are sulfided when DMDS is decomposed into H2S in liquid phase.•Gas sulfidation starts at room temperature and is completed at 400 °C.