Insights into the Organotemplate-Free Synthesis of Zeolite Catalysts

As the most important nanoporous material, zeolites, which have intricate micropores, are essential heterogeneous catalysts in industrial processes. Zeolites are generally synthesized with organic templates under hydrothermal conditions; however, this method is environmentally unfriendly and costly due to the formation of harmful gases and polluted water. This article briefly summarizes the role of organic templates and describes designed routes for the organotemplate-free synthesis of zeolites, aided by zeolite seeds and zeolite seeds solution. Furthermore, this review explicates that the micmpore volume decreases with an increase of the Si/Al ratios in the organotemplate-free synthesis of zeolite products, where Na^＋ exists as an alkali cation. This feature is very important in directing the synthesis of zeolite catalysts with controllable Si/AI ratios under organotemplate-free conditions, and is thus important for the efficient design of zeolites.

Scale-up of NaA zeolite membranes on α-Al_2O_3 hollow fibers by a secondary growth method with vacuum seeding

NaA zeolite membranes were prepared by secondary growth method on the outer surface of α-Al2O3 hollow fiber supports. Vacuum seeding method was used for planting zeolite seeds on the support surfaces. Hydrothermal crystallization was then carried out in a synthesis solution with molar ratio of Al2O3：SiO2：Na2O：H2O = 1：2：2：120 at 100 ℃ for 4 h. Effects of seeding conditions on preparation of hollow fiber NaA zeolite membranes were extensively investigated. Moreover, hollow fiber membrane modules with packing membrane areas of ca. 0.1 and 0.2 m2 were fabricated to separate ethanol/water mixture. It is found that the thickness of seed layer is obviously affected by seed suspension concentration, coating time and vacuum degree. Close-packing seed layer is required to obtain high-quality membranes. The optimized seeding conditions （seed suspension mass concentration of 0.5%-0.7% coating time of 5 s and vacuum degree of 10 kPa） lead to dense NaA zeolite layer with a thickness of 6-8 gin. Typically, an as-synthesized hollow fiber NaA zeolite membrane exhibits good pervaporation performance with a permeation flux of 7.02 kg· m^- 2· h^- 1 and separation factor 〉 10000 for sepa- ration of 90%; （by mass） ethanol/water mixture at 75 ℃ High reproducibility has been achieved for batch-scale production of hollow fiber NaA zeolite membranes by the hydrothermal synthesis approach.