The template-assisted zinc ion incorporation in SAPO-34 and the enhanced ethylene selectivity in MTO reaction

Abstract

Abstract The SAPO-34 catalyst was fine-tuned with zinc cations through a straightforward template-assisted ion incorporation (TII) process, without the necessary template pre-removal and the preparation of NH4-SAPO-34 intermediate, which is more facile, efficient and cost-effective than the conventional ion exchange process. The template-assisted zinc cations incorporated SAPO-34 catalysts were characterized by XRD, XRF, N2 adsorption-desorption, XPS, SEM, EDX, 1H NMR, respectively. Enhanced selectivity to ethylene and ratio of ethylene to propylene in MTO reaction are observed over the zinc cations modified SAPO-34 catalysts, due to the facilitated formation of lower methylbenzenes that favour the ethylene generation, as well as the increased diffusion hindrance originated from the zinc cations incorporation and the facilitated generation of aromatics compound.