TEM stereo-imaging of mesoporous zeolite single crystals

Mesoporous zeolite single crystals with intracrystalline mesopores and metal oxide particles located in the zeolite mesopore are characterised by direct TEM stereo-imaging.     

Synthesis of mesoporous zeolite single crystals with cheap porogens

Mesoporous zeolite (silicalite-1, ZSM-5, TS-1) single crystals have been successfully synthesized by adding soluble starch or sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) to a conventional zeolite synthesis system. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen sorption analysis, ²⁷Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (²⁷Al MAS NMR), temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH₃-TPD) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis). The SEM images clearly show that all zeolite crystals possess the similar morphology with particle size of about 300 nm, the TEM images reveal that irregular intracrystal pores are randomly distributed in the whole crystal. ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectra indicate that nearly all of the Al atoms are in tetrahedral co-ordination in ZSM-5, UV-vis spectra confirm that nearly all of titanium atoms are incorporated into the framework of TS-1. The catalytic activity of meso-ZSM-5 in acetalization of cyclohexanone and meso-TS-1 in hydroxylation of phenol was also studied. The synthesis method reported in this paper is cost-effective and environmental friendly, can be easily expended to prepare other hierarchical structured zeolites.     

A hierarchically ordered porous novel vanado-silicate catalyst for highly efficient oxidation of bulky organic molecules

A novel hierarchically ordered porous vanado-silicate nanocomposite with interconnecting macroporous windows and meso-microporous walls containing well dispersed vanadyl species has been fabricated and used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of a bulky organic molecule, namely cyclooctene.     

ZSM-5 monolith of uniform mesoporous channels

A ZSM-5 monolith of uniform mesopores(meso-ZSM-5) was synthesized with the template method using carbon aerogel of uniform mesopores of great pore volume. The pore size distribution determined by N2 adsorption showed the presence of mesopores with an average pore width of 11 nm and micropores with an average pore width of 0.51 nm. Field emission scanning electron micrograph observation revealed the presence of uniform mesopores. X-ray diffraction and FT-IR provided evidence that the synthesized meso-ZSM-5 monolith has a highly crystalline ZSM-5 structure.     

Nano CuO/ZSM-5 zeolite as a green and efficient catalyst for dehydration of 1,4-butanediol to tetrahydrofuran

Nano CuO/ZSM-5 zeolite was prepared and used as a catalyst for dehydration of 1,4-butanediol(BDO) to tetrahydrofuran(THF) in liquid-phase. It was found that the 4.6 wt% CuO/ZSM-5 displayed good catalytic performance, and nearly 100%of BDO conversion and more than 99% of THF selectivity could be achieved by a rotary evaporator reactor at 170 °C under the atmospheric pressure. With such mild reaction conditions, 2400 g BDO could be converted to THF over 1 g catalyst under semi-continuous operation. Characterizations with X-ray diffraction(XRD), temperature-programmed reduction(TPR),NH3-temperature programmed desorption(TPD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), transmission electron microscope(TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) over fresh and used 4.6 wt% CuO/ZSM-5 were conducted. Based on the results of the characterization and catalytic performance of 4.6 wt% CuO/ZSM-5, it can be conjectured that the formed 1–3 nm CuO nanoparticles, suitable acidity of the catalyst due to the synergic interaction of CuO and ZSM-5 support promoted the dehydration of BDO to THF.     

Bread-template synthesis of hierarchical mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolite with hydrothermally stable mesoporosity

A hierarchical mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolite has been synthesized by using starch-derived bread as a meso-template. The obtained mesoporous ZSM-5 was characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen sorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric (TG)/differential thermal analysis (DTA) techniques. Hydrothermal treatments revealed that the mesoporosity in hierarchical mesoporous ZSM-5 exhibited excellent hydrothermal stability. Catalytic tests showed that hierarchical mesoporous ZSM-5 was more active than conventional zeolite of ZSM-5 in catalytic cracking of 1,3,5-tri-isopropylbenzene. Hydrogen adsorption measurements showed hierarchical mesoporous ZSM-5 had a higher storage capacity than the conventional ZSM-5.     

Effect of acid strength distribution on conversion of FCC gasoline over a ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst

Summary Acid strength distribution and the distribution of aromatics formed in the FCC gasoline conversion reaction on a ZSM-5 zeolite with different Na contents have been studied. With increasing Na content in the ZSM-5 zeolite, the acid sites determined by NH₃-TPD technique, especially the strong acid sites, clearly decrease. When used as catalyst for the aromatization reaction, the transformation of olefins in the FCC gasoline into aromatics is governed directly by the strong acid sites on the ZSM-5 catalyst. Only under the conditions that a ZSM-5 catalyst possesses suitable strong acid sites is reaction temperature favorable for the aromatics formed.     

Cu functionalized nano crystalline ZSM-5 as efficient catalyst for selective oxidation of toluene

Nano crystalline ZSM-5 (NZ) functionalized with Cu has been explored for the selective oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid for the first time, where a comparison is made with the traditional microcrystalline ZSM-5 (MZ) based catalyst having similar framework Si/Al ratios at organic solvent-less reaction conditions in presence of H₂O₂ as a green oxidant. The ZSM-5 catalysts exhibited oxidation property even in the absence of any Cu species, but with low toluene conversions and benzoic acid yields. Functionalization with Cu greatly enhanced the benzoic acid formation, especially on NZ loaded with 0.4 wt% of Cu (Cu-NZ) to produce 92 wt% of benzoic acid, by virtue of the presence of highly dispersed nano particles of CuO along with Cu⁺² ions on the high surface area, mesopore possessing NZ support, revealed from XRD, N₂ adsorption-desorption, XPS, SEM, TEM, FITR, TPR and TPD analysis.     

无溶剂法合成ZSM-5/SiC整体式催化剂制备生物燃料

传统合成整块载体负载分子筛催化剂的方法是水热法,这样往往伴随水资源浪费和釜内空间利用率低的问题.本文报道了应用无溶剂法在蜂窝结构的碳化硅(SiC)表面原位生长ZSM-5分子筛.进一步采用该法将Pd纳米粒子限域在ZSM-5分子筛内,合成Pd@ZSM-5/SiC双功能催化剂,并在油酸甲酯加氢反应中表现出较高的活性和高碳烷烃选择性.结果发现,Pd@ZSM-5/SiC表现出高选择性和耐久性,这归因于SiC优异的传质和导热特性.X射线衍射、扫描电子显微镜和氮气吸附等结果表明,通过无溶剂法合成的分子筛具有很高的结晶度和纯度;高分辨透射电镜结果表明,在Pd@ZSM-5和Pd@ZSM-5/SiC催化剂中,Pd纳米粒子均被良好封装,并且粒径无明显差别,因此排除金属活性中心粒径的干扰.油酸甲酯的直接加氢脱氧/脱羧可以制备具有高附加值的长链碳氢化合物,而碳氢化合物的裂解通常会伴随着低碳化合物等副产物的生成.我们比较了两种催化剂在350-500℃的转化率和高碳烷烃的选择性差异.在相同反应条件下,Pd@ZSM-5/SiC催化剂上油酸甲酯转化率始终高于Pd@ZSM-5.例如在450℃,Pd@ZSM-5和Pd@ZSM-5/SiC的转化率分别为97.6%和78.2%,当温度提升至500℃,Pd@ZSM-5/SiC将油酸甲酯完全转化,而Pd@ZSM-5的转化率仅为88%.在350℃时,Pd@ZSM-5/SiC以脱羧反应为主,其中C17和C18的选择性分别为67.3%和20.1%,C6-12和C13-16选择性分别为2.4%和5.0%.相比之下,Pd@ZSM-5催化剂C17的选择性为39.4%,C18的选择性为13.2%,C6-12和C13-16选择性分别为20.2%和20.6%.由此可见,Pd@ZSM-5对于高附加值的长链碳氢化合物的选择性远低于Pd@ZSM-5/SiC;这可能与在Pd@ZSM-5催化剂上更容易发生烷烃裂解副反应有关.值得注意的是,虽然升高温度会促进碳氢化合物的裂解,但是在Pd@ZSM-5/SiC催化剂上高碳化合物依然较多.例如,在500℃时,裂解是Pd@ZSM-5催化剂上的主要反应,C1-5的选择性高达50.1%,C6-12的选择性高达37.0%;而在Pd@ZSM-5/SiC的产物中,C13-16的选择性为40.0%,C17-18的选择性更是高达16.7%.此外,在450℃的油酸甲酯加氢连续实验中,Pd@ZSM-5/SiC比Pd@ZSM-5表现出更好的耐久性,且催化剂失活后可以通过焙烧手段再生.上述结果表明,Pd@ZSM-5/SiC催化剂有利于加氢脱氧/脱羧反应制备有价值的高碳烃产品,更能抑制裂解副反应的进行.相比之下,传统的粉末催化剂对裂解产物仍具有较高的选择性,尤其是在较高的反应温度下.SiC载体的引入有利于高碳产物的传质,从而抑制了裂解反应.此外,碳化硅良好的导热性可以有效地防止催化剂在反应中的过热,同样有利于抑制碳氢化合物的裂解.     

Converting red mud wastes into mesoporous ZSM-5 decorated with TiO2 as an eco-friendly and efficient adsorbent-photocatalyst for dyes removal

Red mud wastes have been converted into mesoporous zeolite socony mobile-5 (ZSM-5) followed by deposited titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles to generate synergy adsorption-photodegradation for removal of dye removal in waste water. The amount of TiO₂ loading was varied to achieve optimum photocatalytic activity while maintaining the mesoporosity and high surface area of ZSM-5. Sol-gel method facilitated the formation of anatase TiO₂ on the ZSM-5. The fourier transform infrared spectra clarified the formation of Si–O–Ti at 957 cm^?1 by the exchanging the hydrogen ion with titanium ion, which proved by decreasing the absorption band of Si–OH and Si–O interaction at 964 and 944 cm^?1, respectively. Sol-gel method also preserved the mesopore diameter of ZSM-5 at 3.5 nm which allow the diffusion of methylene blue (MB) molecules into the pores. However, the surface area and the pore volume were slightly reduced with increasing the TiO₂ loading. The adsorption performance of samples showed that the increasing in the TiO₂ loading led to the decreasing in the adsorption capacity. All samples showed the suitability towards the pseudo second order kinetic. The Langmuir isotherm was suitable to describe the adsorption mechanism by monolayer adsorption. Mesoporosity of ZSM-5 accelerated the adsorption of dye via the increase of mass transfer in the pore channel which confirmed by the low intercept of intraparticle diffusion model at the first stage. The photocatalytic test showed that 10% TiO₂ loading on the ZSM-5 exhibited the highest methylene blue removal followed by 5% and 20% TiO₂ loading. Optimization on the amount of photocatalyst and the pH of solution indicated the reaction favoured 1 g L^?1 of catalysts and at alkaline pH. 10% TiO₂/ZSM-5 also exhibited high stability and reusability up to four reaction cycles. Photocatalytic performance of 10% TiO₂/ZSM-5 was further investigated on photodegradation of malachite green and rhodamine B organic dyes, which showed the photocatalytic efficiency of 73 and 88%, respectively. Superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, and photogenerated electron were identified as the main active species for MB photodegradation based on the reduction of degradation rate following the addition scavenger molecules.     

Transformation of South African coal fly ash into ZSM-5 zeolite and its application as an MTO catalyst

This study presents a way of using South African coal fly ash by extracting metals such as Al and Fe with concentrated sulphuric acid, and then using the solid residue as a feedstock for the synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolite. The percentage of aluminium and iron oxides decreased from 28.0 ± 0.2% and 5.0 ± 0.1% in coal fly ash to 24.6 ± 0.1% and 1.6 ± 0.01% in the acid treated coal fly ash respectively. The fly ash-based zeolite ZSM-5 sample synthesised from the solid residue after extraction of Al and Fe, contained 62% of ZSM-5 zeolite pure phase with a number of Brønsted acid site density of 0.61 mmol per g_zeolite.By properly treating the as-prepared coal fly ash-based ZSM-5 zeolite, an active and selective methanol-to-olefins acid catalyst could be designed, leading to full methanol conversion during 15 h on stream. The optimised catalyst exhibited a cumulative methanol conversion capacity of 71 g(MeOH_converted)/g(catalyst) and a light olefin productivity of 21 g(C₂₌–C₄₌)/g(catalyst).     

Modulated large-pore mesoporous silica as an efficient base catalyst for the Henry reaction

In this study, mesoporous silica materials with tuned pores and surface areas were successfully synthesized by adjusting the amount of applied hexane and controlling the hydrothermal temperature. The synthesized silica materials were then functionalized by an amine group to produce solid base catalysts and be applicable as efficient heterogeneous base catalysts for the Henry reaction. The mesoporous silica catalysts possessing large-pores and surface area expose their active catalytic sites and thereby improve contacts with reactants fulfilling the reactions expeditiously in comparison with solid base catalysts possessing small-pores and surface area. The results indicated that the yield of the products is significantly dependent on the structure of the applied solid base catalysts. The modulated large-pore solid base catalysts presented high catalytic activity in Henry reactions and could be reused for five consecutive cycles.     

Fabrication of a nano-sized ZSM-5 zeolite with intercrystalline mesopores for conversion of methanol to gasoline

Carbon deposition during methanol to hydrocarbons leads to the quick deactivation of ZSM-5 catalyst and it is one of the major problems for this technology. Decreasing the crystal size or introducing mesopores into ZSM-5 zeolites can improve its diffusion property and decrease the coke formation. In this paper, nano-sized ZSM-5 zeolite with intercrystalline mesopores combining the mesoporous and nanosized structure was fabricated. For comparison, the mesoporous ZSM-5 and nano-sized ZSM-5 were also prepared. These catalyst samples were characterized by XRD, BET, NH3-TPD, TEM, Py-IR and TG techniques and used on the conversion of methanol to gasoline in a fixed-bed reactor at T = 405 °C, WHSV = 4.74 h-1and P = 1.0 MPa. It was found that the external surface area of the nano-sized ZSM-5 zeolite with intercrystalline mesopores reached 104 m2/g, larger than that of mesoporous ZSM-5(66 m2/g) and nanosized ZSM-5(76 m2/g). Catalytic lifetime of the nano-sized ZSM-5 zeolite with intercrystalline mesopores was 93 h, which was only longer than that of mesoporous ZSM-5(86 h), but shorter than that of nanosized ZSM-5(104 h). Strong acidity promoted the coke formation and thus decreased the catalytic lifetime of the nano-sized ZSM-5 zeolite with intercrystalline mesopores though it presented large external surface that could improve the diffusion property. The special zeolite catalyst was further dealuminated to decrease the strong acidity. After this, its coke formation rate was slowed and catalytic lifetime was prolonged to 106 h because of the large external surface area and decreased weak acidity. This special structural zeolite is a potential catalyst for methanol to gasoline reaction.     

Ti-exchanged ZSM-5 as heterogeneous catalyst for allylation of aldehydes with allyltributylstannane

Titanium exchanged ZSM-5 catalyst has been prepared by treating an aqueous solution of titanium (IV) chloride with ZSM-5. The supported catalyst has been explored as effective and reusable catalyst for allylation reaction of aldehydes with allyltributylstannane. The new catalytic system promotes efficiently the allylation reaction in toluene condition to produce homoallylic alcohols in high yield.     

Tracing catalytic conversion on single zeolite crystals in 3D with nonlinear spectromicroscopy

The cost- and material-efficient development of next-generation catalysts would benefit greatly from a molecular-level understanding of the interaction between reagents and catalysts in chemical conversion processes. Here, we trace the conversion of alkene and glycol in single zeolite catalyst particles with unprecedented chemical and spatial resolution. Combined nonlinear Raman and two-photon fluorescence spectromicroscopies reveal that alkene activation constitutes the first reaction step toward glycol etherification and allow us to determine the activation enthalpy of the resulting carbocation formation. Considerable inhomogeneities in local reactivity are observed for micrometer-sized catalyst particles. Product ether yields observed on the catalyst are ca. 5 times higher than those determined off-line. Our findings are relevant for other heterogeneous catalytic processes and demonstrate the immense potential of novel nonlinear spectromicroscopies for catalysis research.     

Ordered mesoporous carbon as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst to activate peroxydisulfate for degradation of sulfadiazine

Catalytic potential of carbon nanomaterials in peroxydisulfate（PDS） advanced oxidation systems for degradation of antibiotics remains poorly understood. This study revealed ordered mesoporous carbon（type CMK） acted as a superior catalyst for heterogeneous degradation of sulfadiazine（SDZ） in PDS system, with a first-order reaction kinetic constant（k） and total organic carbon（TOC） mineralization efficiency of 0.06 min^–1 and 59.67% ± 3.4% within 60 min, respectively. CMK catalyzed PDS sy...     

Ordered mesoporous carbon as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst to activate peroxydisulfate for degradation of sulfadiazine

Catalytic potential of carbon nanomaterials in peroxydisulfate（PDS） advanced oxidation systems for degradation of antibiotics remains poorly understood. This study revealed ordered mesoporous carbon（type CMK） acted as a superior catalyst for heterogeneous degradation of sulfadiazine（SDZ） in PDS system, with a first-order reaction kinetic constant（k） and total organic carbon（TOC） mineralization efficiency of 0.06 min^–1 and 59.67% ± 3.4% within 60 min, respectively. CMK catalyzed PDS sy...     

Direct demonstration of enhanced diffusion in mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolite obtained via controlled desilication

A 2 orders of magnitude gas transport improvement in a medium pore ZSM-5 zeolite has been achieved upon introduction of intracrystalline mesoporosity in gradient-free crystals by desilication post-treatment in alkaline medium.     

Creation of hollow zeolite architectures by controlled desilication of Al-zoned ZSM-5 crystals

Hollow zeolite architectures on different length scales have been obtained upon controlled desilication of Al-zoned ZSM-5 zeolites in alkaline medium. The hollow ZSM-5 crystals possess a functional Al-rich exterior and a tunable internal porosity and accessibility.