Synthesis of micron-particle-size HZSM-5 zeolite with different Si/Al ratio and its catalytic activity for toluene methanol alkylation reaction

Abstract

HZSM-5 molecular sieve is one of the commonly used catalysts for the alkylation of toluene with methanol to para-xylene (PX). This study introduces a one-step method to directly prepare microscale HZSM-5 catalysts with suitable pore structure and acidity. Specifically, this paper combined crystal seed regulation of the morphology of HZSM-5 and adjusted the Si/Al ratios of the precursor solution for HZSM-5 synthesis to regulate the acidic phase of the HZSM-5. It analyzed the phase composition, pore structure parameters, microstructure, and acidity of HZSM-5 molecular sieve through X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption desorption, SEM, NH3 temperature programmed desorption, pyridine infrared spectroscopy, etc. This study investigated the catalytic performance of HZSM-5 in the alkylation of toluene with methanol to PX, and explored the effects of pore structure and acidity on the catalytic performance. Results indicate that in the hydrothermal crystallization method, the crystal seeds and aluminum content in the synthesis solution have a significant impact on the acidity and morphology structure of the HZSM-5 molecular sieve. The HZSM-5 (150)molecular sieve catalyst with 5μm grain size exhibits 60% PX selectivity and 11% toluene conversion rate in the evaluation reaction of toluene methanol alkylation due to its longer diffusion path and more suitable acidic sites. By fine-tuning the pores and acidic sites of HZSM-5 molecular sieve, the selectivity for PX has been effectively improved, providing new methods and approaches for the design of shape-selective catalysts.

Keywords

• si/al ratio
• methanol toluene alkylation
• hzsm-5
• crystal seed
• para-xylene