Synthesis of Nanosized Mfi Zeolites Using Cu-Containing Ligands

Abstract

Nanosized MFI type zeolites are synthesized using Cu-containing ligands. The use of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a ligand promoted the solubility and guaranteed the exclusive configuration of the copper-bearing chelate in the precursor colloidal suspension. The EDTA-assisted MFI zeolite nanocrystals (Cu-MFI-EDTA) was found to contain low amount of silanols due to formation of flexible Si-O-Cu bonds. On the contrary, when ammonia (NH3) was used as a ligand, the copper species in the sample (Cu-MFI-NH3) only present in the form of extra framework cations. The introduction of transition metals assisted by ligands permitted the preparation of nanocrystals with variable amount of silanols and modified hydrophobicity.

Keywords: Nanosized zeolite, Silanols, Copper ligands, Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid