Resumen de Design, synthesis and characterization of small-pore zeolites for industrial environmental applications
The research project described herein is structured in two parts. The first part is focused on the fundamental research with the aim of creating a toolbox for zeolite preparation. The second part deal with the design, synthesis and characterization of novel zeolites particular useful for DeNOx applications, but could be also useful for MTO applications.
The fundamental research is addressing a novel approach of preparing zeolites by using other zeolites as raw materials. This process is known as zeolite-to-zeolite transformation or interzeolite conversion. The high yield obtained, fast crystallization time and the better utilization of the raw materials (e.g. parent zeolite, organic structure directing agent (OSDA)), are important benefits of interzeolite conversion technic, which answer the objectives formulated for an industrial PhD project. The method has been exemplified by using various raw materials as parent zeolites, such as FAU and CHA for the preparation of two target small pore zeolites AEI and AFX.
In the second part the focus has been on the design of novel small pore zeolites. Three hypothetical frameworks have been selected by narrowing down a database containing 933611 structures. The selection has been performed by using the general descriptors for the state-of-the-art DeNOx zeolites (e.g. CHA). This was followed by finding suitable OSDAs for the selected frameworks, by using computational methods. The usage of the theoretically predicted OSDAs in synthesis gels made possible the synthesis of a novel high-silica zeolite. PXRD analysis, revealed that the zeolite has the ERI framework topology. The obtained material has a distinct particle morphology and smaller crystallites, which are key parameters for various catalytic processes.
The synthesis work revealed also a novel dense zeolite, named K-paracelsian. The new material has been obtained while exploring the phase space using 1-methyl-DABCO as OSDA. The synthesis of this zeolite is especially interesting in the sense that the OSDA is not being incorporated into the zeolite channels, but rather influencing the nucleation and crystallization. Further characterization revealed a material compositionally closely related to the mineral microcline and structurally closely related to the mineral paracelsian, both of which are feldspars. In contrast to the feldspars, K-paracelsian contains intrazeolitic water corresponding to one molecule per cage and can be described as the simplest endmember of a family of dense double-crankshaft zeolite topologies. By applying the identified building principle, a number of known zeolite frameworks (e.g. GIS, APC, MER, PHI, SIV) and hypothetical zeolite topologies can be constructed.
