Intergrowth Structure and Aluminium Zoning of a Zeolite ZSM-5 Crystal as Resolved by Synchrotron-Based Micro X-Ray Diffraction Imaging

Abstract

Zeolites represent an important group of heterogeneous catalysts and are heavily used in the petrochemical and refining industries.[1] Since their discovery, zeolites with MFI topology, namely ZSM-5, have been utilized in a number of large-scale industrial applications. The unique combination of acidic properties and pore architecture[2] enabled their use as solid acid catalysts in the alkylation of arenes,[3] the oligomerization of light olefins,[4] and the methanol-to-hydrocarbon reaction.[5] The internal crystallographic architecture, microand mesoporosity, as well as the 3D distribution of Brønsted acid sites play a crucial role in the catalytic performance of zeolites.