Effect of thermal treatment conditions on the acid properties of zeolite Beta

Abstract

The acid properties of zeolite Beta were studied by IR spectroscopy with the use of adsorbed NH3 and CO probe molecules. It was found that the strength of the Bronsted acid sites (BASs) of zeolite Beta was the same as that of zeolite ZSM-5. Approximately a third of the total amount of BASs participated in the formation of hydrogen bonds at interdomain boundaries; thus, they were inaccessible to molecules larger than the ammonia molecule. The qualitative and quantitative compositions of acid sites in zeolite Beta can be regulated by changing the conditions of calcination of the initial zeolite form (temperature and/or gas atmosphere). Calcination under vacuum conditions afforded the highest acidity of the zeolite with respect to all types of acid sites. Calcination in a flow of air resulted in the lowest acidity of the sample, especially, with respect to the concentration of strong Lewis acid sites, because of the formation of an alumina phase. Calcination in an atmosphere of helium resulted in a decrease (as compared with a vacuum) in the rate of removal of the organic template decomposition products of the initial zeolite form from the channel volume. The resulting ethylene was mainly adsorbed at strong Lewis sites and converted into undesorbed condensation products.