Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a New RTH-Type Precursor and Its Interlayer Expanded Zeolite

Two dimensional zeolites have drawn a lot of attention due to their structural diversity and chemical composition, which can be used to obtain 3D zeolites, for which there is no direct synthesis. Here, a new layer silicate zeolite L was synthesized using the N, N-dimethyl-(2-methyl)-benzimidazolium as the organic structure-directing agent (OSDA) in the presence of fluoride. Structure determination by single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that the pure silica precursor with five-ring pores in the crystalline sheets is composed of the rth layer stacking along the (001) direction in an …AAAA… sequence with SDA⁺ cations and F^- residing within the interlayer spaces. Variable temperature powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) results showed that the new layer could transform into a 3D RTH topology structure at 350 °C via 2D-3D topotactic transformation. Furthermore, a new 3D zeolite material is obtained by treating the original layer with a diethoxydimethylsilane agent under hydrochloric acid condition (HCl-DEDMS). Based on the PXRD results and the original layer structure, the new 3D zeolite structure expanding the rth layer with another Si atom is constructed, which possesses a 10×8×6 channel system. It displays a high BET surface area of 188 cm³ /g with an external surface area of 130 cm³ /g. The structure and textural properties pave a way for potential catalytic applications. The research not only provides a new layered zeolite, broadening the 2D zeolite framework types, but also allows for the discovery of a new stable 3D zeolite expanding the RTH structure with Si atom, which hasn't been reported yet.