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SCIENTISTS DISCOVER A NEW EXTRA-LARGE PORE ZEOLITE WITH PROMISING APPLICATIONS IN THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

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The new zeolite, named ZEO-1, shows a three-dimensional system of interconnected extra-large pores (around 10 Å), the highest observed in stable zeolites after 80 years of research. It could work as a catalyst in fine chemistry for the production of pharmaceutical intermediates, in controlled substance release, for pollution abatement or as a support for the encapsulation of photo- or electroactive species. Experiments at the MSPD beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron were key to determine the accurate structure of ZEO-1.

Figure. Left: ZEO-1 possesses a 3D system of extra-large pores plus a 3D system of large pores, all of them interconnected. In this figure, the structure is viewed along (100). The large circular pores are opened through rings of 16 tetrahedra (around 10 Å, the new "extra-large" pores), while the smaller, ovoid pores are made of 12 tetrahedra (around 7x6 Å, the traditional "large" pores). Right: A perspective view of the extra-large pore of ZEO-1 along (100).

Figure. Left: ZEO-1 possesses a 3D system of extra-large pores plus a 3D system of large pores, all of them interconnected. In this figure, the structure is viewed along (100). The large circular pores are opened through rings of 16 tetrahedra (around 10 Å, the new "extra-large" pores), while the smaller, ovoid pores are made of 12 tetrahedra (around 7x6 Å, the traditional "large" pores). Right: A perspective view of the extra-large pore of ZEO-1 along (100).

IM_ZeolitaZEO-1_MSPD_Video_JianLi

Video of ZEO-1 available here

Madrid / Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona). December 27, 2021. An international research team, led in Spain by CSIC scientist Miguel A. Camblor, has discovered a stable aluminosilicate zeolite with a three dimensional system of interconnected extra-large pores, named ZEO-1.

Zeolites are crystalline porous materials with important industrial applications, including uses in catalytic processes. The pore apertures limit the access of molecules into and out of the inner confined space of zeolites, where reactions occur.

The research, published in Science, proved that ZEO-1 possesses these “extra-large” pores of around 10 Å (1 angstrom equals one ten billionth of a meter), but also smaller pores of around 7 Å, which is actually the size of traditional “large” pores.

Because of its porosity, strong acidity and high stability, ZEO-1 may find applications as a catalyst in fine chemistry for the production of pharmaceutical intermediates, in controlled substance release, for pollution abatement or as a support for the encapsulation of photo- or electroactive species (they react to light or an electric field).

"The crossings of its cages delimit super boxes, open spaces that can be considered nanoreactors to carry out chemical reactions in their confined space", explains Miguel A. Camblor, researcher at the Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid - CSIC.

To prove that this new zeolite may be useful in applications involving bigger molecules, researchers measured the adsorption to the inner surface of the zeolite of the dye Nile red - a big molecule. Moreover, they tested its performance in fluid catalytic cracking of heavy oil, a process the world still relies on to produce fuels. In both processes, the new zeolite performed better than the conventional large pore zeolite used nowadays.

This research is the result of an international collaboration between eight research centers in China, the USA, Sweden and Spain. The team was led by Fei-Jian Chen (Bengbu Medical College, China), Xiaobo Chen (China University of Petroleum), Jian Li (Stockholm University) and Miguel A. Camblor (Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid, CSIC).

 

Structure determination with synchrotron light

The zeolite was discovered following a high-throughput screening methodology. The structure solution was challenging because the zeolite has a very complex structure, with a small crystal size (<200nm) but an exceedingly large cell volume.

"The combination of electron diffraction data with synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data collected at the MSPD beamline of the ALBA Synchrotron and the Argonne National Laboratory (USA) made possible the accurate structure determination of ZEO-1", says Camblor.

"The extremely good instrumental resolution offered by the Multi Analyzer Detection setup of the MSPD diffractometer allows resolving high density Bragg peaks. This instrumental condition is necessary for accurately determining big unit cell parameters as exhibited by ZEO-1 and to precisely localize the atoms in the unit cell", adds François Fauth, scientist in charge of the MSPD beamline at ALBA.

 

Reference: Qing-Fang Lin, Zihao Rei Gao, Cong Lin, Siyao Zhang, Junfeng Chen, Zhiqiang, Xiaolong Liu, Wei Fan, Jian Li, Xiaobo Chen, Miguel A. Camblor, Fei-Jian Chen. A stable aluminosilicate zeolite with intersecting three-dimensional extra-large pores. Science (2021). DOI: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk3258

This work is part of project PID2019-105479RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Spain.

With the collaboration of Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología. The ALBA Synchrotron is part of the of the Unidades de Cultura Científica y de la Innovación (UCC+i) of the FECYT and has received support through the FCT-20-15798 project.

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