Abstract: Confined Synthesis of Silicalite-1 Nanocrystals In Threedimensionally Ordered Mesoporous Carbon (2008 Annual Meeting)

Monday, November 17, 2008: 1:45 PM

Franklin 12 (Marriott Philadelphia Downtown)

Wei Fan, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Sandeep Kumar, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Institute of Technology,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Yoo Won Choel, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Technology,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Andreas Stein, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Technology,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

R. Lee Penn, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Technology,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Michael Tsapatsis, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Institute of Technology,University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

The sustained interest in the synthesis of zeolite nanocrystals is justified because they can serve as catalysts, seeds for thin film growth and for preparation of polymer-zeolite nanocomposite membranes. In this study, silicalite-1 was synthesized inside three-dimensionally-ordered mesoporous carbon with a uniform pore size that can be tuned from 20 to 40 nm. The three-dimensionally-ordered mesoporous (3DOm) carbon was prepared using ordered arrays of silica nanoparticles (Lys-Sil) as a template^1,2. Electron Microscopy, X-ray diffraction and N₂ adsorption and desorption reveal that the silicalite-1 nanocrystals can reliably replicate the 3DOm porosity, resulting in the first highly ordered mesopororous/microporous material with inverse opal mesoporosity and MFI zeolite microporosity. Applications in catalysis and membranes will be discussed along with implications in understanding zeolite nucleation and growth.

1. Yokoi, T.; Sakamoto, Y.; Terasaki, O.; Kubota, Y.; Okubo, T.; Tatsumi, T. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 13664-13665.

2. Davis, T. M.; Snyder, M. A.; Krohn, J. E.; Tsapatsis, M. Chem. Mater. 2006, 18, 5814-5816.

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See more of this Session: Templated Assembly of Inorganic Nanomaterials
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