Shuxiang Pan

Highly Mesoporous Single-Crystalline Zeolite Beta Synthesized Using a Nonsurfactant Cationic Polymer as a Dual-Function Template

Mesoporous zeolites are useful solid catalysts for conversion of bulky molecules because they offer fast mass transfer along with size and shape selectivity. We report here the successful synthesis of mesoporous aluminosilicate zeolite Beta from a commercial cationic polymer that acts as a dual-function template to generate zeolitic micropores and mesopores simultaneously. This is the first demonstration of a single nonsurfactant polymer acting as such a template. Using high-resolution electron microscopy and tomography, we discovered that the resulting material (Beta-MS) has abundant and highly interconnected mesopores. More importantly, we demonstrated using a three-dimensional electron diffraction technique that each Beta-MS particle is a single crystal, whereas most previously reported mesoporous zeolites are comprised of nanosized zeolitic grains with random orientations. The use of nonsurfactant templates is essential to gaining single-crystalline mesoporous zeolites. The single-crystalline nature endows Beta-MS with better hydrothermal stability compared with surfactant-derived mesoporous zeolite Beta. Beta-MS also exhibited remarkably higher catalytic activity than did conventional zeolite Beta in acid-catalyzed reactions involving large molecules.

Sustainable Synthesis of Zeolites without Addition of Both Organotemplates and Solvents

The development of sustainable and environmentally friendly techniques for synthesizing zeolites has attracted much attention, as the use of organic templates and solvents in the hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites is a major obstacle for realizing green and sustainable synthesis ways. Recently, the introduction of the organotemplate-free synthesis method allowed avoiding the use of organic templates, but water as solvent was still required; solvent-free routes on the other hand beared the potential to significantly reduce the amount of polluted wastewater, but organic templates were still present. In this work, we have demonstrated a combined strategy of both organotemplate- and solvent-free conditions to synthesize aluminosilicate zeolites Beta and ZSM-5 (S-Beta and S-ZSM-5), two of the most important zeolites relevant for industry. The samples are thoroughly characterized by XRD patterns, SEM images, N2 sorption isotherms, UV-Raman spectra, and (29)Si and (27)Al MAS NMR spectra. The results demonstrate that S-Beta and S-ZSM-5 zeolites exhibit almost the same textural parameters (e.g., BET surface area and pore volume) and catalytic performance in cumene cracking and m-xylene isomerization as those of conventional Beta and ZSM-5 zeolites synthesized under hydrothermal conditions (C-Beta and C-ZSM-5). The organotemplate- and solvent-free syntheses of S-Beta and S-ZSM-5 take place at a low-pressure regime and are free of harmful gases as well as give high product yields together with highly efficient consumption of the starting raw materials. These advantages plus the very simple procedures opened the pathway to a highly sustainable zeolite synthesis protocol compared to conventional methods currently employed for C-Beta and C-ZSM-5. Very interestingly, this simple synthesis is a good model for understanding zeolite crystallization. The detail characterizations indicate that the S-Beta crystals are formed from the assembly of zeolite building units, mainly 4MRs, while the 5MRs in the framework are just formed in the crystallization of S-ZSM-5, rather than existence in the starting solid mixture. During the crystallization processes, small traces of water play an important role for the hydrolysis and condensation of silica and/or aluminosilicate species.

Solvent-free synthesis of zeolites from anhydrous starting raw solids.

Development of sustainable routes for synthesis of zeolites is very important because of wide applications of zeolites at large scale in the fields of catalysis, adsorption, and separation. Here we report a novel and generalized route for synthesis of zeolites in the presence of NH4F from grinding the anhydrous starting solid materials and heating at 140-240 °C. Accordingly, zeolites of MFI, BEA*, EUO, and TON structures have been successfully synthesized. The presence of F(-) drives the crystallization of these zeolites from amorphous phase. Compared with conventional hydrothermal synthesis, the synthesis in this work not only simplifies the synthesis process but also significantly enhances the zeolite yields. These features should be potentially of great importance for industrial production of zeolites at large scale in the future.

Aluminium-rich Beta zeolite-supported platinum nanoparticles for the low-temperature catalytic removal of toluene

The removal of volatile organic compounds is an important aspect of sustainability and environmental protection. Catalytic oxidation is one of the most efficient routes to achieve this. The K+ form of an aluminium-rich Beta zeolite-supported Pt nanoparticle (2.2 nm) [Pt/KBeta-seed-directed synthesis (SDS)] catalyst is very active for the low-temperature catalytic removal of toluene and results in full conversion at a much lower temperature than a conventional KBeta-supported Pt nanoparticle (Pt/KBeta-TEA) catalyst. The higher activity of the Pt/KBeta-SDS catalyst compared with the Pt/KBeta-TEA catalyst is related to the advantages of the higher K+ content and fewer terminal silanol defects in the KBeta-SDS catalyst than in the KBeta-TEA catalyst. The higher K+ content is helpful for the formation of more Pt0 species, and both the higher K+ content and the lower number of terminal silanol defects are favourable for the adsorption of toluene, as evidenced by XPS and the toluene-TPD profiles. More importantly, the Pt/KBeta-SDS catalyst shows very stable activities in the presence of H2O and CO2 in the feed gases. The combination of this extraordinary activity and excellent stability in the catalytic removal of toluene over the Pt/KBeta-SDS catalyst are important for future environment protection.

A Hierarchical Bipyridine‐Constructed Framework for Highly Efficient Carbon Dioxide Capture and Catalytic Conversion

As a C1 feedstock, CO2 has the potential to be uniquely highly economical in both a chemical and a financial sense. Porous materials bearing particular binding and active sites that can capture and convert CO2 simultaneously are promising candidates for CO2 utilization. In this work, a bipyridine-constructed polymer featuring a high surface area, a hierarchical porous structure, and excellent stability was synthesized through free-radical polymerization. After metalation, the resultant catalysts exhibited superior activities in comparison with those of their homogeneous counterparts in the cycloaddition of CO2 to epoxides. The high performance of the heterogeneous catalysts originates from cooperative effects between the CO2 -philic polymer and the embedded metal species. In addition, the catalysts showed excellent stabilities and are readily recyclable; thus, they are promising for practical utilization for the conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals.

Catalytically active and hierarchically porous SAPO-11 zeolite synthesized in the presence of polyhexamethylene biguanidine

Hierarchically porous SAPO-11 zeolite (H-SAPO-11) is rationally synthesized from a starting silicoaluminophosphate gel in the presence of polyhexamethylene biguanidine as a mesoscale template. The sample is well characterized by XRD, N2 sorption, SEM, TEM, NMR, XPS, NH3-TPD, and TG techniques. The results show that the sample obtained has good crystallinity, hierarchical porosity (mesopores at ca. 10 nm and macropores at ca. 50-200 nm), high BET surface area (226 m(2)/g), large pore volume (0.25 cm(3)/g), and abundant medium and strong acidic sites (0.36 mmol/g). After loading Pt (0.5 wt.%) on H-SAPO-11 by using wet impregnation method, catalytic hydroisomerization tests of n-dodecane show that the hierarchical Pt/SAPO-11 zeolite exhibits high conversion of n-dodecane and enhanced selectivity for branched products as well as reduced selectivity for cracking products, compared with conventional Pt/SAPO-11 zeolite. This phenomenon is reasonably attributed to the presence of hierarchical porosity, which is favorable for access of reactants on catalytically active sites. The improvement in catalytic performance in long-chain paraffin hydroisomerization over Pt/SAPO-11-based catalyst is of great importance for its industrial applications in the future.

Solvent-free synthesis of titanosilicate zeolites

A solvent-free route is developed for synthesizing titanosilicate zeolites with good crystallinity, uniform crystals, high surface area, and tetrahedral Ti species in the framework. Catalytic tests show that S-TS-1 exhibits almost the same catalytic activity in hexane oxidation with H2O2 as that of conventional TS-1 synthesized by a hydrothermal route.

Improved catalytic activity in methanol electro-oxidation over the nickel form of aluminum-rich beta-SDS zeolite modified electrode

A glass carbon electrode was modified by the nickel form of an aluminum-rich beta-SDS zeolite synthesized from an organotemplate-free and seed-directed route. Catalytic tests in the electro-oxidation of methanol show that this modified electrode exhibits improved catalytic activity, compared with the electrode modified conventional nickel form of beta zeolite.

Enhancement of Catalytic Activity in Epoxide Hydration by Increasing the Concentration of Cobalt(III)/Salen in Porous Polymer Catalysts

The rational design of catalytic materials from the reaction characteristics is expected to be a useful strategy to create highly efficient catalysts. Herein, according to a well‐established reaction pathway of epoxide hydration catalyzed a dual‐molecular system of Co3+/salen in which a high concentration of active sites is favorable to enhance the activity, we provide an alternative way to prepare a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst with a high concentration of Co3+/salen from the polymerization of vinyl‐functionalized salen monomers followed by the loading of Co3+ species (Co3+/POL‐salen). Co3+/POL‐salen has a hierarchical porosity and an extraordinary hydrothermal stability. Importantly, catalytic tests in epoxide hydration demonstrate that Co3+/POL‐salen affords excellent high activities, which are even better than those of the homogeneous version. This phenomenon is related to the very high concentration of Co3+/salen in the catalyst. In addition, this catalyst can be recycled readily because of its excellent hydrothermal stability.

Generalized high-temperature synthesis of zeolite catalysts with unpredictably high space-time yields (STYs)

As a class of important catalysts and adsorbents, zeolites are normally prepared through hydrothermal synthesis, whereby a relatively long crystallization time and use of a large amount water solvent strongly hinder the enhancement of zeolite space-time yields (STYs), which is a critical factor for the industrial manufacturing. To overcome this limitation, herein we report a novel strategy for highly efficient zeolite synthesis by means of fast crystallization at high temperatures (200–240 °C) in the absence of water solvent. This concept significantly enhances the crystallization rates and allows drastic reduction of the time required for crystallization of the zeolite frameworks such as the crystallization of MFI from 12–24 h at 180 °C to 0.5 h at 240 °C and RUB-36 from 14 days at 140 °C to 1.5 days at 200 °C. Together with much better utilization of the reactor volume, the space-time yields (STYs) for zeolites prepared from high-temperature synthesis in the absence of water solvent can be remarkably increased. The STYs of MFI and RUB-36 are as high as 11 000 and 178 kg m−3 per day, which are almost two orders of magnitude higher than those of conventional hydrothermal synthesis. This novel synthesis method should be applicable for synthesizing a wide variety of zeolite structures and bears the potential for highly efficient zeolite synthesis on an industrial scale.