The Surface-to-volume Ratio of the Synthesis Reactor Vessel Governing the Low Temperature Crystallization of ZSM-5

• Published in: Journal of mathematical and fundamental sciences 2016-12, Vol.48 (3), p.241-251
• Main Authors: Mukaromah, Ana Hidayati, Kadja, Grandprix Thomryes Marth, Mukti, Rino Rakhmata, Pratama, Ignatius Redyte, Zulfikar, Muhammad Ali, Buchari, Buchari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: low OSDA; low temperature; mesopore; surface-to-volume ratio; ZSM-5
• ISSN: 2337-5760; 2338-5510
• DOI: 10.5614/j.math.fund.sci.2016.48.3.5

Zeolite ZSM-5 is one of major catalysts in petroleum and fine-chemical industries. The synthesis of zeolite ZSM-5 is usually carried out at high temperature above 100 °C using the immense amount of organic structure-directing agents (OSDA). It is interesting to note that fine-tuning the initial gel mixture can be used to enhance the typical slow crystallization rate of ZSM-5. Herein, we report the effect of the surface-to-volume ratio of the reactor vessel to the crystallization of ZSM-5 at low temperature. The surface-to-volume ratio of the reactor vessel could influence the heat-transfer during the synthesis which further governed the crystallization of ZSM-5. It was found that the higher the surface-to-volume of the reactor, the more crystalline of the resulting products. The product with the highest crystallinity exhibited a nearly-spherical morphology composed of smaller ZSM-5 crystallites. This phenomenon allowed the presence of inter-crystallite mesopores which is an advantage for the catalytic reaction using bulky molecules.