2009 Annual Meeting
(588d) Synthesis of Silicalite-1 Nanocrystals in Three Dimensionally Ordered Mesoporous Carbon
Authors
Wei Fan - Presenter, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Pyung-Soo Lee - Presenter, University of Minnesota
Sandeep Kumar - Presenter, University of Minnesota
Xueyi Zhang - Presenter, University of Minnesota
R. Lee Penn - Presenter, University of Minnesota
Alon V. McCormick - Presenter, University of Minnesota
Won Cheol Yoo - Presenter, University of Minnesota
The sustained interest in the synthesis of zeolite nanocrystals is justified because they can serve as seeds for thin zeolite film growth and for preparation of polymer-zeolite nanocomposite membranes. In this study, silicalite-1 nanocrystals were synthesized inside three-dimensionally-ordered mesoporous (3DOm) carbon with a uniform pore size that can be tuned from 20 nm to 50 nm 1,2. The 3DOm carbon was prepared using ordered arrays of silica nanoparticles (Lys-Sil) as a template. Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction and N2 adsorption and desorption reveal that the silicalite-1 nanocrystals can reliably replicate the 3DOm porosity, resulting in the highly monodisperse silicalite-1 nanocrystals with a tunable size from 20 nm to 50 nm. Their application in the fabrication of zeolite thin film will be discussed along with implications in understanding zeolite nucleation and growth.
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