Improving the catalytic performance of SAPO-18 for the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction by controlling the Si distribution and crystal size

The physico-chemical properties of the small pore SAPO-18 zeotype have been controlled by properly selecting the organic molecules acting as organic structure directing agents (OSDAs). The two organic molecules selected to attempt the synthesis of the SAPO-18 materials were N,N-diisopropylethylamine (DIPEA) and N,N-dimethyl-3,5-dimethylpiperidinium (DMDMP). On the one hand, DIPEA allows small crystal sizes (0.1-0.3 mu m) to be attained with limited silicon distributions when the silicon content in the synthesis gel is high (Si/TO2 similar to 0.8). On the other hand, the use of DMDMP directs the formation of larger crystallites (0.9-1.0 mu m) with excellent silicon distributions, even when the silicon content in the synthesis media is high (Si/TO2 similar to 0.8). It is worth noting that this is the first description of the use of DMDMP as OSDA for the synthesis of the SAPO-18 material, revealing not only the excellent directing role of this OSDA in stabilizing the large cavities present in the SAPO-18 structure, but also its role in selectively placing the silicon atoms in isolated framework positions. The synthesized SAPO-18 materials have been characterized by different techniques, such as powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), N-2 adsorption, solid state NMR, and ammonia temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD). Finally, their catalytic activity has been evaluated for the methanol-to-olefin (MTO) process at different reaction temperatures (350 and 400 degrees C), revealing that the SAPO-18 catalysts with optimized silicon distributions and crystal sizes show excellent catalytic properties for the MTO reaction. These optimized SAPO-18 materials present improved catalyst lifetimes compared to standard SAPO-34 and SSZ-39 catalysts, even when tested at low reaction temperatures (i.e. 350 degrees C).