Comparative studies of Zr-based MCM-41 and MCM-48 mesoporous molecular sieves: Synthesis and physicochemical properties

Two surfactant-templated synthetic routes are developed for the preparation of new types of mesoporous molecular sieves, Zr-MCM-41 and Zr- MCM-48, using different Si sources but keeping the same zirconium precursor (zirconium-n-propoxide). When fumed silica was used as Si precursor, a Zr-MCM-48 material of cubic structure was formed with a surface area of 654.8 m2/g and an unimodal pore diameter distribution. It shows low stability: after calcination at 600 8C, the ordered structure was transformed into a relatively disordered worm-like mesostructure with many defects and silanol groups. The use of tetraethyl orthosilicate as Si source led to the formation of a Zr-MCM-41 mesoporous solid, which had good thermal stability and a highly ordered hexagonal arrangement, with a surface area 677.9 m2/g and an uniform pore diameter distribution. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) characterization and 29Si NMR analysis confirm that zirconium ions indeed incorporated into the framework of the solid. The in situ FT-IR spectroscopy of pyridine adsorption reveals that both, Lewis and Bro¨nsted acid sites, were formed on the surface of these mesoporous materials. The strength and number of the Bro¨nsted acid sites of the Zr-MCM-48 solid were greater than those of the Zr-MCM- 41, due to a lower degree of condensation reaction during the synthesis that led to more structural defects in the framework and more silanol groups stretching from the solid surface