Seed-induced synthesis of mesoporous ZSM-5 aggregates using tetrapropylammonium hydroxide as single template

Mesoporous ZSM-5 aggregates were synthesized with wide SiO2/Al2O3 ratio range using tetrapropylammonium hydroxide as single template through seed-induced route. The influences of SiO2/Al2O3 ratio, Na2O/SiO2 ratio and seeding gel amount on the textural properties of the mesoporous ZSM-5 aggregates were investigated and the possible formation mechanism was brought forward. The mesoporous ZSM-5 aggregates of approximately 2.0 mu m in diameter were formed by nanosized crystals several tens nanometers in size, which avoid the filtration difficulties for nanosized crystals. This synthesis process is facile and much less expensive while the prepared mesoporous ZSM-5 aggregates possess large external surface area and large mesopore volume. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.