| Abstract: | The overall view of the TPD of ammonia to measure the acidic property of zeolites is described. The desorption peaks were identified and the significance of readsorption of ammonia was pointed out for the first time. This part of the work was done using reference catalysts of the Catalysis Society of Japan. The theoretical equation for the TPD with free readsorption of ammonia was then derived. Two methods for determining the strength of zeolite acidity based on the derived equation were proposed. A curve fitting method was then proposed to determine the zeolite acidity; based on this method, not only the strength of acidity but also its distribution could be determined. This method was applied to mordenite and ZSM-5 zeolites with different contents of Al and Na cations, and a simple conclusion was reached; namely, the strength of the acidity was not influenced by the number of acid sites but by the structure of the zeolite. Finally, water vapor treatment to rub out the l-peak (lower temperature peak) was briefly mentioned. This method was applied to precisely determine the acidity of Y-zeolite. A case study about the beta zeolite as the catalyst for the amination of phenol was exemplified; the catalytic activity was discussed in terms of the measured acidity. |
