Direct synthesis of hierarchical LTA zeolite via a low crystallization and growth rate technique in presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

Abstract

Slow crystallization and growth rate at room temperature in the presence of surfactant micelles is a new strategy used to synthesize hierarchical Na–A zeolites. The observed structure of the hierarchical materials was consistent with a two stage growth mechanism. During the early stage of the gel evolution, miniature zeolite gel particles were formed and assembled around surfactant (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide – CTAB) micelles. In a second stage, the slow mass transformation into crystalline phase and the low growth rate of the formed crystallites retained the CTAB micelles within the crystallization domain. After the removal of CTAB templates, the products showed large mesopores which were attributed to the interstitial voids between the aggregated zeolite nanocrystallites. The size of the mesopores can be further expanded by using linear hydrocarbons as swelling agents. The influences of the added amount of the hydrocarbons and the length of the hydrocarbon chains on the mesopore size were examined. The effects of the aging period and the concentration of CTAB in the synthesis mixture on the pore size distribution were also investigated. The colloidal suspension of the synthesized zeolite showed negative zeta potential throughout the entire range of pH. The mesoporous Na–A zeolite synthesized in this work showed higher ethylene adsorption capacity as compared to the conventional microporous Na–A zeolite. XRD, DLS, SEM, N2 adsorption–desorption at 77K, TEM, 29Si NMR and FTIR techniques were used to characterize the hierarchical Na–A zeolite.