Ultrasound-assisted rapid hydrothermal design of efficient nanostructured MFI-Type aluminosilicate catalyst for methanol to propylene reaction

A series of MFI-type aluminosilicate catalysts with ultasound-assisted rapid hydrothermal and conventional high temperature methods were synthesized at temperatures of 250 and 300°C. The pure MFI framework was obtained when sonochemical method used prior to the hydrothermal conditions of 250°C and 3h. The samples were characterized by XRD, FESEM, BET-BJH, FTIR, TPD-NH3 and TG/DTG analyses. The morphological analysis indicated the coffin shape of all particles with different surface roughness. The HZSM-5(UH-250) sample with high surface roughness and proper structural properties improves access of molecules to the active sites interior of the crystallites and has an important beneficial effect in MTP catalytic reaction. So, it was found the high methanol conversion and improved selectivity toward olefins after 2100 min. [Display omitted] •Ultrasound-assisted short time synthesis of ZSM-5 catalyst at 250 and 300 °C.•Formation of pure MFI framework with enhanced nucleation and crystal growth.•Potential characterization of synthesized MFI-type zeolites for MTP process.•Potential influence of ultrasound on high propylene production.•Proposed synthesis pathway and deactivation mechanism. The influence of ultrasound-assisted rapid hydrothermal synthesis of aluminosilicate ZSM-5 catalysts was examined in this work. A series of MFI-type nanostructured materials with sonochemical approach and conventionalheating were synthesized and evaluated for conversion of methanol to propylene reaction. The prepared samples were tested by characterization analyses such as XRD, FESEM, BET-BJH, FTIR, TPD-NH3 and TG/DTG. The obtained results confirmed that ultrasound treatment enhanced the nucleation process and crystal growth for ZSM-5 sample synthesized at moderate temperature of 250 °C. Therefore, it was found the formation of pure MFI zeolite with high crystallinity and improved textural, structural and acidic properties for ZSM-5(UH-250) sample compared with the other zeolites. This observation was attributed to the relationship between the perfect crystallization mechanism and catalytic properties, which led to producing an efficient MFI zeolite toward the optimal catalytic performance. In this manner, the methanol conversion and products selectivity of prepared materials were carried out in MTP reaction at 460 °C and atmospheric pressure. The ZSM-5(UH-250) zeolite with slower deactivation regime exhibited the constant level of methanol conversion (84%) and high propylene se