Abstract: Synthesis of Silicalite-1 Nanocrystals in Three Dimensionally Ordered Mesoporous Carbon (2009 Annual Meeting)

Thursday, November 12, 2009: 2:00 PM

Jackson E (Gaylord Opryland Hotel)

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

Pyung-Soo Lee, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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

Won Cheol Yoo, Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Xueyi Zhang, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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

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

Alon V. McCormick, Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

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

The sustained interest in the synthesis of zeolite nanocrystals is justified because they can serve as seeds for thin zeolite film growth and for preparation of polymer-zeolite nanocomposite membranes. In this study, silicalite-1 nanocrystals were synthesized inside three-dimensionally-ordered mesoporous (3DOm) carbon with a uniform pore size that can be tuned from 20 nm to 50 nm ^1,2. The 3DOm carbon was prepared using ordered arrays of silica nanoparticles (Lys-Sil) as a template. 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 highly monodisperse silicalite-1 nanocrystals with a tunable size from 20 nm to 50 nm. Their application in the fabrication of zeolite thin film will be discussed along with implications in understanding zeolite nucleation and growth.

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

2. Fan, W.; Synder, M. A.; Sandeep, K.; Lee, S. P.; Yoo, C. W.; McCormick, A. V.; Penn, L. R.; Stein, A.; Tsapatsis, M. Nat. Mater. 2008, 7, 984.

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