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Mechanochemically-assisted solvent-free and template-free synthesis of zeolites ZSM-5 and mordenite
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Mechanochemically-assisted solvent-free and template-free synthesis of zeolites ZSM-5 and mordenite

Majid H Nada, Sarah C Larsen and Edward G Gillan
Nanoscale Advances, Vol.2019(10), pp.3918-3928
10/08/2019
DOI: 10.1039/c9na00399a
url
https://doi.org/10.1039/c9na00399aView
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Aluminosilicate-based zeolite materials, such as ZSM-5 and mordenite, are well-studied as catalysts. Typical approaches to synthesize these zeolites require either templates or seeds to direct ordered crystal growth and both of these are expensive and add to the complexity of zeolite synthesis. In this paper, we describe a solvent-free and template-free method to synthesize crystalline ZSM-5 and mordenite zeolites without any added seed crystals. Key to the success of this approach is a mechanochemical precursor pre-reaction step. High-energy ball-milling is used to initiate a solid-state metathesis (exchange) reaction between Na 2 SiO 3 and Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 reagents, forming crystalline Na 2 SO 4 and well-mixed aluminosilicate precursor. The solid precursor mixture is thermally converted to crystalline ZSM-5 or mordenite at moderate 180 °C temperatures without solvents or an organic amine structure directing template. Variations in Si/Al ratios in the precursor mixture and additions of solid NaOH to the mechanochemical reaction were found to influence the subsequent growth of either crystalline ZSM-5 or mordenite zeolites. The crystalline zeolites from this solvent-free and template free method have high ∼300 m 2 g −1 surface areas directly from the synthesis without requiring high-temperature calcination. These materials are also comparably active to their commercial counterparts in cellulose and glucose biomass catalytic conversion to hydroxymethylfurfural. Solvent-free and template-free synthesis of crystalline zeolites using mechanochemical pre-reactions between Na 2 SiO 3 and Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 forming Na 2 SO 4 and well-mixed aluminosilicate intermediates.

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