Mordenite etching in pyridine: Textural and chemical properties rationalized by toluene disproportionation and n-hexane cracking

Synthesis of Hierarchical MOR-Type Zeolites with Improved Catalytic Properties

Hierarchical MOR-type zeolites were synthesized in the presence of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a porogen agent. XRD proved that the concentration of CTAB in the synthesis medium plays an essential role in forming pure hierarchical MOR-type material. Above a CTAB concentration of 0.04 mol·L-1, amorphous materials are observed. These hierarchical mordenite possess a higher porous volume compared to its counterpart conventional micrometer crystals. Nitrogen sorption showed the presence of mesoporosity for all mordenite samples synthesized in the presence of CTAB. The creation of mesopores due to the presence of CTAB in the synthesis medium does not occur at the expense of zeolite micropores. In addition, mesoporous volume and BET surface seem to increase upon the increase of CTAB concentration in the synthesis medium. The Si/Al ratio of the zeolite framework can be increased from 5.5 to 9.1 by halving the aluminum content present in the synthesis gel. These synthesized hierarchical MOR-type zeolites possess an improved catalytic activity for n-hexane cracking compared to large zeolite crystals obtained in the absence of CTAB.

Recent Progress in Synthesis and Application of Nanosized and Hierarchical Mordenite—A Short Review

Zeolites with their unique properties find applications in various fields, including medicine, agronomy, ecology, production of detergents and drying agents, and in a number of industrial processes. Among zeolites, mordenite is particularly widespread because of its high silica/alumina ratio, which allows it to resist exposure to high temperatures and to acidic gases and liquids. Mordenite is commercially available as a natural mineral and as a synthesized material. This zeolite is mostly used in its synthetic form as an acid catalyst in the petrochemical industry for the isomerization of alkanes and aromatics. In this review, we consider the scientific literature on the structure, synthesis, and two main types of modifications that solve the diffusion difficulties during catalytic processes. The first type of modifications is related to a reduction of the size of the mordenite crystals obtained to submicron or nanometric range, whereas the second ones aim to obtain hierarchical mordenite samples by appropriate post-synthetic treatments. Both types of modifications find many other applications besides solving diffusion constraints in catalytic processes. Attempts to fine-tune and control the particle size in the first type of modifications or the pore size in the second ones by adjusting various parameters during the synthesis are described.

State of the Art and Perspectives of Hierarchical Zeolites: Practical Overview of Synthesis Methods and Use in Catalysis

Microporous zeolites have proven to be of great importance in many chemical processes. Yet, they often suffer from diffusion limitations causing inefficient use of the available catalytically active sites. To address this problem, hierarchical zeolites have been developed, which extensively improve the catalytic performance. There is a multitude of recent literature describing synthesis of and catalysis with these hierarchical zeolites. This review attempts to organize and overview this literature (of the last 5 years), with emphasis on the most important advances with regard to synthesis and application of such zeolites. Special attention is paid to the most common and important 10- and 12-membered ring zeolites (MTT, TON, FER, MFI, MOR, FAU, and *BEA). In contrast to previous reviews, the research per zeolite topology is brought together and discussed here. This allows the reader to instantly find the best synthesis method in accordance to the desired zeolite properties. A summarizing graph is made available to enable the reader to select suitable synthesis procedures based on zeolite acidity and mesoporosity, the two most important tunable properties.

Template-induced Al distribution in MOR and enhanced activity in dimethyl ether carbonylation

As the activity of dimethyl ether (DME) carbonylation over mordenite proportionally correlates with the Brønsted acid sites (BAS) in 8-membered ring (8-MR), enhancing the concentration of BAS in the 8-MR of MOR is important to improve the efficiency of the reaction. Herein, we report that the distribution of the BAS in the zeolite catalyst H-MOR can be altered by the synthesis of H-MOR with different cyclic amine structure-directing templates, several of which have not been reported previously for MOR synthesis. By combining FTIR, ICP, TG analysis and DFT calculations, it is verified that the strength of the interaction between amine or sodium cations and [AlO₄]^- in the zeolite framework plays a decisive role in Al distribution, owing to the competitive effect between Na⁺ and the cyclic amine compensating negative charges from the framework [AlO₄]^-. Quantitative analysis of the BAS in the 12-MR and 8-MR identifies the optimum template for maximizing the BAS in the 8-MR. It is shown that the enhanced activity of the H-MOR for the DME carbonylation to methyl acetate correlates with the increase in the BAS in the 8-MR. Our finding thus provides a facile strategy to direct Al location within different channels of the zeolite, which must benefit spatially confined reaction systems.