Gemini quaternary ammonium salt cationic surfactant‐assisted hydrothermal synthesis: An effective way to tune the textural properties of zeolite and the acidity of Beta molecular sieves

Abstract

Novel hierarchical Beta zeolites have been successfully synthesized via a one‐pot dual‐templates strategy utilizing gemini organic surfactant and tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH)through hydrothermal process. The influence of several parameters on the formation of hierarchical Beta zeolite, the change in acidity and a possible growth scheme were systematically investigated. The physicochemical properties of these catalysts were characterized by PXRD, BET, SEM, HRTEM SAED, TG and NH3‐TPD techniques, and the performance as acid catalysts was verified using the transformation of EtOH as a model reaction. On one hand, WAXRD data indicated that decreasing the temperature of synthesis and increasing amounts of C12‐6‐12 in the process of synthesis resulted in lower crystallinity of Beta zeolites due to the BEA nuclei formation and crystal growth constrained by C12‐6‐12. On the other hand, SAXRD and HRTEM data evidenced that C12‐6‐12 initially generated a pseudo‐ordered mesoporous phase which was then partially occupied by the zeolite. After a period of ~96 h for crystallization, the hierarchy zeolite possessing 765.7 m2·g‐1 of Brunauer‐Emmett‐Tellerarea, and average mesopore size distribution of 3.51 nm can be synthesized, and its microporous structure has a good crystallinity and lower amounts of acid sites than that of the microporous Beta one. Furthermore, the as‐obtained hierarchical zeolite displayed lower deactivation rate mainly due to the less coke formation on the surface of catalyst. It is expected to develop more considerable potential application value for the hierarchical Beta zeolite structure in the near future.