Template-Free Synthesis of Hierarchical SSZ-13 Microspheres with High MTO Catalytic Activity

Hierarchical SSZ-13 microspheres, with abundant mesoporous channels, have been successfully synthesized by addition of calcined SSZ-13 crystals in the starting gel in the absence of any organic templates. This strategy not only remarkably reduces the production cost and environmental pollution, but also significantly decreases the crystallization time as well as evidently reducing the zeolite crystal sizes in many cases. The synthesized sample was characterized by XRD, BET, ICP, SEM, TEM, TG, and NH₃ -TPD, which indicates that the organic template free synthesized SSZ-13 exhibits high crystallinity, textural properties, and acidity. Moreover, the synthesized hierarchical SSZ-13 catalyst shows outstanding performance in the methanol-to-olefin (MTO) reaction, with slightly higher ethylene plus propylene selectivity and prolonged catalyst lifetime as compared to the templated SSZ-13 catalyst.