Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous SAPO-11 by using carbon particles

Mesoporous SAPO-11 was synthesized hydrothermally by using carbon black and di-n-propylamime (DPA) as templates for the expected mesopores and micropores respectively. The samples were characterized with XRD, nitrogen physisorption, SEM and NH_3-TPD techniques. The mesopore volumes of mesoporous SAPO-11 are in range of 0.037-0.052 cm³/g. The same amounts of the acid sites according to NH_3-TPD results in both mesoporous and conventional SAPO-11 products indicate that the carbon black involved in the synthesis doesn't affect the crystallization efficiency of SAPO-11. The mesoporous SAPO-11 samples exhibit higher activity compared with conventional ones, especially under low reaction temperature. The enhanced activity can be attributed to the introduction of the mesopores in the zeolite crystals, which decreases the intracrystalline mass transfer limitations.