Engineering of zeolite BEA crystal size and morphology via seed-directed steam assisted conversion

The mechanism of seeding of zeolite BEA via steam assisted conversion has been studied using BEA seeds with different composition. The catalysts are characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption-desorption, Hg-porosimetry, X-ray fluorescence and TPD of ammonia, and evaluated in benzene alkylation with propene. The results show that variation of the SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio from 25 to 250 in BEA seeds changes the mechanism of seeding from "core-shell" to a "dissolution" mechanism, which can serve as a tool for engineering the morphological, textural and catalytic properties of BEA zeolites. Al-rich seeds (SiO₂/Al₂O₃ = 25) do not dissolve during gel preparation and initiate dense oriented crystal growth on their surface resulting in the formation of large polycrystals (1-2 μm) with ordered densely intergrown nanocrystallites. In contrast, Si-rich seeds (SiO₂/Al₂O₃ = 250) dissolve into tiny fragments, which serve as individual nuclei leading to formation of tiny isolated nanocrystallites aggregated into small hierarchical aggregates with high intercrystalline mesoporosity. The decrease of particle size and formation of intercrystalline mesoporosity in hierarchical aggregates improves the accessibility of acidic sites and facilitates the diffusion of reaction products, which leads to the significant improvement of catalytic activity and reduces the deactivation resulting in higher stability with time on stream in cumene synthesis from benzene and propylene.