Seed-assisted, one-pot synthesis of hollow zeolite beta without using organic structure-directing agents

Hollow aluminosilicate zeolite beta was successfully synthesized by adding CIT-6, that is, zincosilicate zeolite, which has the same topology as beta, as seeds to the Na-aluminosilicate gel without the need for organic structure-directing agents. One important factor in the successful organic structure-directing agent (OSDA)-free synthesis of hollow beta crystals is the solubility of the seed crystals in alkaline media. CIT-6 was less stable than aluminosilicate zeolite beta in alkaline media and the solubility changed depending on whether the crystals were calcined or not. The hollow beta could be obtained by using the uncalcined CIT-6 seed crystals. The volumes of intra-crystalline voids were tuned by changing the reaction time and the initial gel compositions, such as the SiO2/Al2O3 and Na2O/SiO2 ratios. We estimated that the intra-crystalline voids were formed through the dissolution of the seed crystals, just after the crystal growth of new beta on the outer surface of the seeds. In addition, new crystal growth toward inside of the void was also observed by TEM. On the basis of the characterization data, such as chemical analysis, N2-adsorption/desorption measurements, and TEM observation, a formation mechanism of the intra-crystalline voids is proposed and discussed.