Synthesis of Ga-incorporated SAPO-34s (GaAPSO-34) and their catalytic performance on methanol conversion

This study has been focused on the synthesis of GaAPSO-34s substituted gallium for aluminum in order to improve the acidic property in SAPO-34 crystal. As the result, GaAPSO-34s with various Al/Ga ratios (Al/Ga=∞, 40, 20, 10, 5, and 0) were successfully synthesized. These were characterized by XRD, SEM, ICP, TG-DTA, MAS-NMR, and BET surface areas. The crystallinity identified from the intensity of XRD peak (for angles of 22.5° and 9.7°) and the particle size observed from SEM photographs decreased with an increase in the Ga content incorporated into the SAPO-34 framework. On the other hand, decrease in the acid sites in crystal as a target in this study was confirmed in the Ga-incorporated samples. In particular, a surprising result was that the selectivity to ethylene on methanol conversion increased in catalyst with Al/Ga=20 compared with pure SAPO-34 catalyst. However, in spite of the decreases in acid sites and particle size in catalyst with much more Ga content, the selectivity to ethylene was not enhanced, rather the methane which related to catalytic deactivation increased in GaAPSO-34 catalysts. This is ascribed to collapses of framework of SAPO-34 with an increase in Ga content.