Synthesis of Linde A-type zeolite from ball clay with incorporated ruthenium and application in hydrogenation catalysis

Abstract

The Linde A-Type zeolite (LTA zeolite) was synthesized from ball clay through two steps of calcination at 600 °C with the addition of NaOH/Al(OH)3 in a mass ratio of 1:1.2/0.43 and hydrothermal treatment at 60 °C for 48.0 h. A certain amount of 3.0 wt% Ru3+ was introduced before the hydrothermal treatment, and the Ru0-nanoparticles were in-situ fixed in the zeolite in a facile way. The synthesized materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The zeolite with LTA structure was successfully synthesized from ball clay, and the catalytic performance was checked by using hydrogenation of benzene at 150 °C and PH2 = 5.0 MPa, and the turnover frequency (TOF) of cyclohexane reached 4000 mol/(mol·h). The good stability was demonstrated by the high conversion of 94.0% and 98.0% of benzene after cycling use for many runs of catalysis and calcination at 550 °C.