Fabrication of a Pillared ZSM‑5 Framework for Shape Selectivity of Ethane Dehydroaromatization

Ethane, the second major component of shale gas, is a prospective raw feedstock to valuable chemicals and fuels. Innovative pillared ZSM-5 with various lamellar thicknesses and Si/Al ratios were successfully synthesized with the dual-template method; 0.67 wt % Mo were dispersed over these lamellar ZSM-5, and evaluated for ethane dehydroaromatization. The influence of zeolite morphology and the texture property for the reduction/acidity nature of MoO x species were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, N2-sorption, H2-temperature programmed reduction/oxidation, and NH3-temperature-programmed desorption. The high concentration of acidic sites not only increases ethane conversion and aromatic selectivity, but intensely induces surface coking. Therefore, a moderate Si/Al ratio is utilized to balance catalytic reactivity and stability. Thicker zeolite layers with a long diffusion path exhibited fair ethane conversion, but high aromatization yield. It is of significant importance that the lamellar Mo/MFI catalyst, with Si/Al = 50 and 210 nm layer thickness, demonstrated excellent regenerability during a multicycle reaction/oxidation operation, which could be a promising system for industrial optimization and process deployment.