The design objectives for developing next-generation zeolite catalysts with improved performance in diverse applications involve several factors that include the selective manipulation of active site speciation and spatial distribution as well as overcoming inherent mass transport limitations imposed by nanopores. These efforts are facilitated by establishing a fundamental understanding of zeolite crystallization mechanisms (1), and leveraging this information to develop state-of-the-art materials. This is accomplished through innovative synthesis pathways to achieve materials with controlled physicochemical properties for establishing robust structure-performance relationships. This presentation will cover recent progress in the engineering of nanosized and hierarchical zeolite catalysts (2), with examples including the synthesis of self-pillared (3), finned (4), zoned (5), and coreshell (6) zeolites. The success of these approaches lies in their ability to convert larger catalysts into pseudo nanoparticles or nanosheets with substantially improved catalyst lifetime, activity, and/or selectivity. Our findings show how these novel materials exhibit exceptional catalytic performance compared to conventional analogues; and the flexibility of the methods to allow for the introduction of diverse heteroatoms as a means of generating multifunctional catalysts. This talk will provide an overview of catalyst synthesis, characterization, and testing to assess their relative performance in reactions ranging from dehydration and epoxidation to oxidative dehydrogenation and methanol to hydrocarbons.
References:
Mallette et al., Chemical Reviews 124 (2024) 3416-34931.
Mallette et al., Nature Synthesis 1 (2022), 521-534
Jain et al., Advanced Materials 33 (2021) 2100897
Dai et al., Nature Materials 19 (2020) 1074-1080
Le et al., Nature Catalysis 6 (2023) 254-265
Le et al., Journal of Catalysis 405 (2022) 664-675
