Ion exchange of sodium with hydrochloric acid in ZSM-5 zeolite

ZSM-5 zeolites are highly silicate materials that have significant application in catalytic processes in petrochemistry, especially due to their high selectivity. Most reactions in the petrochemical industry are acid-catalyzed. The acidic properties of zeolite depend on the number of acid centers, i.e. the presence of hydrogen ions, and therefore, in this paper the possibility of reducing the sodium content in the pores of high silicate zeolite ZSM-5 with the modulus (SiO2 / Al2O3 = 1000) will be investigated, by applying ion exchange with hydrochloric acid. Chemical analysis of samples before and after ion exchange, and application of instrumental methods of X-Ray diffraction, FT-IR spectroscopy, and SEM analysis monitored the influence of the quantity of hydrogen ions on the chemical composition and the structure of ZSM-5 zeolite at different acid concentrations and at different exchange times. It has been shown that the application of ion exchange with hydrochloric acid can reduce the sodium content in zeolite. Even with the application of 5% HCl for 6 hours, the content of sodium in the zeolite is reduced by over 98%. A similar effect is achieved by applying more concentrated hydrochloric acid solutions for a shorter ion exchange time. By prolonging the ion exchange time, there are no significant changes in terms of the final ion exchange. On the other hand, the application of HCl solutions of higher concentrations leads to a slight decrease in the aluminum content in the zeolite, which may partially affect the structural stability of the zeolite. The results obtained by FT-IR and SEM analysis and X-Ray diffraction confirm the possibility of ion exchange with hydrochloric acid, without significant changes in the crystal structure of the zeolite.