An eco-friendly method for the scale-up synthesis of ZSM-5 Zeolite

Abstract

Scaling-up is the key step of the commercialisation of ZSM-5 zeolite, and the cost-effectiveness and greenness of the synthesis strategy is a decisive factor that cannot be ignored in the scale-up process. Herein, we present a template-free and solid-state-like crystallisation method for the synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolite by mechanical mixing of starting material components, which can be used for the scale-up production of ZSM-5 zeolite. The crystallisation range of ZSM-5 zeolite was obtained by this mechanical mixing of anhydrous starting materials. We have analyzed the kinetics study of three different Na2O/Al2O3/SiO2 systems in the range, and obtained the trends of nucleation and growth activation energy. The results show that mechanical mixing can effectively achieve a high degree of homogenous dispersion of the starting material, which is conducive to obtaining ZSM-5 with high crystallinity and size uniformity. We have synthesised monolithic ZSM-5 with high crystallinity and uniform grain size of about 2 g, 30 g and 120 g in different sizes (2.5 ml/50 ml/200 ml) of Teflon lined high pressure reactors in a single synthesis method. This study affirms the possibility of achieving the scale-up of ZSM-5 zeolite synthesis through the synthetic pathway proposed, presenting a cost-effective, eco-friendly strategy for the industrial preparation of ZSM-5 zeolite.