The mechanism of methane activation on Mo/HZSM-5 is poorly described, despite the great interest in methane dehyd roa romatization (MDA) to replace oil refineries for producing aromatics. It is difficult to assess the exact nature of the active site due to fast coking. By pre-carburizing Mo/HZSM-5 with carbon monoxide, the active site for MDA can be isolated and studied without the formation of coke. This strategy helped us examine how methane is activated on the catalytic site by carrying out MDA using isotopically labelled methane (^{1 3} C H ₄ ) . We show that carbon originating from the preformed carbide is incorporated into the main products of the reaction, ethylene and benzene, demonstrating the dynamic nature of these active sites.

The active sites on the methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) catalyst Mo/HZSM-5 are very hard to characterize, because they are present in various geometries and sizes and only form under reaction conditions with methane at 700 °C. To address these issues an experimental strategy is presented that enables distinguishing different active sites for MDA present on Mo/HZSM-5 and helps determining the Mo charge, nuclearity and chemical composition. This approach combines a CO pretreatment to separate the active Mo site formation from coke formation, quasi-in situ spectroscopic observations using DNP, ¹³C NMR, CO IR and theory. This allows the discrimination between three different types of active sites. Distinct spectroscopic features were observed corresponding to two types of mono- or dimeric Mo (oxy-)carbide sites as well as a third site assigned to Mo₂C nanoparticles on the outer surface of the zeolite. Their formal Mo oxidation state was found to be between 4+ and 6+. Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) measurements of samples carburized in CO as well as in CH₄ confirm the assignment and also show that accumulated aromatic carbon covers the bigger Mo nanoparticles on the outer surface of the zeolite, causing deactivation. It was previously observed that after an initial period where no desired products are formed yet, benzene starts slowly forming until reaching its maximum productivity. Direct observation of the active site with ¹³C NMR confirmed that Mo-sites do not transform further once benzene starts forming, meaning that they are fully activated during the period where no desired products are observed yet. Therefore the slow increase of the benzene formation rate cannot be attributed to a further transformation of Mo sites.

The catalytic performance of the bifunctional catalyst Mo/HZSM-5 for methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) depends on the Mo dispersion and on zeolite acidity. Here we separately quantify the effect of dispersion and the effect of acidity on aromatic yields and coke selectivity. Also, the effect of porosity on the same is quantitatively assessed. For that, a suite of 17 samples with varying Mo dispersion were synthesized by means of several methods, including chemical vapor deposition with MoCl ₅ , MoO ₂ Cl ₂ and Mo(CO) ₆ as precursors and the conventional methods, incipient wetness impregnation and solid ion exchange. These catalysts were characterized with pyridine IR-spectroscopy, XPS, UV–vis spectroscopy, N ₂ adsorption, XRD, TGA and ²⁷ Al MAS NMR. The combined results yielded a measure of how much Mo is anchored to the zeolite as well-defined cationic species and how much is present as bigger clusters on the outer surface of the zeolite. Through relating these characterization results to the catalytic behavior of the catalysts, it was found that the maximum instantaneous benzene and naphthalene yields as well as the integral selectivities during methane dehydroaromatization linearly increase with the amount of Mo present as mono- or dimeric species. At the same time, the selectivity to coke increases with the amount of Mo present as bigger clusters or nanoparticles on the outer surface of the zeolite. The number of Mo cationic sites is the most important factor determining the activity of Mo/HZSM-5 for low loadings of Mo. But at higher loadings, the high rate of aromatics formation requires an easily accessible pore structure as well.

In small-pore zeolite catalysts, where the size of the pores is limited by eight-ring windows, aromatic hydrocarbon pool molecules that are formed inside the zeolite during the Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process cannot exit the pores and are retained inside the catalyst. Hydrocarbon species whose size is comparable to the size of the zeolite cage can cause the zeolite lattice to expand during the MTO process. In this work, the formation of retained hydrocarbon pool species during MTO at a reaction temperature of 400 °C was followed using operando UV-vis spectroscopy. During the same experiment, using operando X-ray Diffraction (XRD), the expansion of the zeolite framework was assessed, and the activity of the catalyst was measured using online gas chromatography (GC). Three different small-pore zeolite frameworks, i.e., CHA, DDR, and LEV, were compared. It was shown using operando XRD that the formation of retained aromatic species causes the zeolite lattice of all three frameworks to expand. Because of the differences in the zeolite framework dimensions, the nature of the retained hydrocarbons as measured by operando UV-vis spectroscopy is different for each of the three zeolite frameworks. Consequently, the magnitude and direction of the zeolite lattice expansion as measured by operando XRD also depends on the specific combination of the hydrocarbon species and the zeolite framework. The catalyst with the CHA framework, i.e., H-SSZ-13, showed the biggest expansion: 0.9% in the direction along the c-axis of the zeolite lattice. For all three zeolite frameworks, based on the combination of operando XRD and operando UV-vis spectroscopy, the hydrocarbon species that are likely to cause the expansion of the zeolite cages are presented; methylated naphthalene and pyrene in CHA, 1-methylnaphthalene and phenalene in DDR, and methylated benzene and naphthalene in LEV. Filling of the zeolite cages and, as a consequence, the zeolite lattice expansion causes the deactivation of these small-pore zeolite catalysts during the MTO process.

Although the local geometry of Mo in Mo/HZSM-5 has been characterized before, we present a systematic way to manipulate the configuration of Mo and link it to its catalytic properties. The location and geometry of cationic Mo-complexes, the precursor of the active metal site for methane dehydroaromatization, are altered by directing the way they anchor to the framework of the zeolite. The feature used to direct the anchoring of Mo is the location of Al in the zeolite framework. According to DFT calculations, the local geometry of Mo should change, while UV-vis and pyridine FTIR spectroscopy indicated differences in the dispersion of Mo. Both aspects, however, did not influence the catalytic behavior of Mo/HZSM-5, indicating that as long as enough isolated Mo species are present inside the pores of the zeolite, the catalytic behavior is unaffected. This paves the way to better understand how the Mo oxo precursor transforms into the active phase under the reaction conditions.

The development of new membranes with high H₂ separation performance under industrially relevant conditions (high temperatures and pressures) is of primary importance. For instance, these membranes may facilitate the implementation of energy-efficient precombustion CO₂ capture or reduce energy intensity in other industrial processes such as ammonia synthesis. We report a facile synthetic protocol based on interfacial polymerization for the fabrication of supported benzimidazole-linked polymer membranes that display an unprecedented H₂/CO₂ selectivity (up to 40) at 423 K together with high-pressure resistance and long-term stability (>800 hours in the presence of water vapor).

The combination of well-defined acid sites, shape-selective properties and outstanding stability places zeolites among the most practically relevant heterogeneous catalysts. The development of structure–performance descriptors for processes that they catalyse has been a matter of intense debate, both in industry and academia, and the direct conversion of methanol to olefins is a prototypical system in which various catalytic functions contribute to the overall performance. Propylene selectivity and resistance to coking are the two most important parameters in developing new methanol-to-olefin catalysts. Here, we present a systematic investigation on the effect of acidity on the performance of the zeolite ‘ZSM-5’ for the production of propylene. Our results demonstrate that the isolation of Brønsted acid sites is key to the selective formation of propylene. Also, the introduction of Lewis acid sites prevents the formation of coke, hence drastically increasing catalyst lifetime.

To secure future supply of aromatics, methane is a commercially interesting alternative feedstock. Direct conversion of methane into aromatics combines the challenge of activating one of the strongest C-H bonds in all hydrocarbons with the selective aromatization over zeolites. To address these challenges, smart catalyst and process design are a must. And for that, understanding the most important factors leading to successful methane C-H bond activation and selective aromatization is needed. In this review, we summarize mechanistic insight that has been gained so far not only for this reaction, but also for other similar processes involving aromatization reactions over zeolites. With that, we highlight what can be learnt from similar processes. In addition, we provide an overview of characterization tools and strategies, which are useful to gain structural information about this particular metal-zeolite system at reaction conditions. Here we also aim to inspire future characterization work, by giving an outlook on characterization strategies that have not yet been applied for the methane dehydroaromatization catalyst, but are promising for this system.

In the version of this Article originally published, on the right side of Fig. 4b, the ‘Aromatic cycle’ label was erroneously shifted outside of the central circular arrow into a position on part of the reaction cycle. This has been corrected in the online versions of the Article.

The performance of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) based on Matrimid^® and benzimidazole-linked polymers (BILPs) have been investigated for the separation CO₂/N₂ and the dependency on the filler porosity. BILPs with two different porosities (BILP-101 and RT-BILP-101) were synthesized through controlling the initial polymerization rate and further characterized by several techniques (DRIFTs, ¹³C CP/MAS NMR, SEM, TEM, N₂ and CO₂ adsorption). To investigate the influence of porosity, the two types of fillers were incorporated into Matrimid^® to prepare MMMs at varied loadings (8, 16 and 24 wt%). SEM confirmed that both BILP-101 and RT-BILP-101 are well dispered, indicating their good compatibility with the polymeric matrix. The partial pore blockage in the membrane was verified by CO₂ adsorption isotherms on the prepared membranes. In the separation of CO₂ from a 15:85 CO₂:N₂ mixture at 308 K, the incorporation of both BILPs fillers resulted in an enhancement in gas permeability together with constant selectivity owing to the fast transport pathways introduced by the porous network. It was noteworthy that the initial porosity of the filler had a large impact in separation permeability. The best improvement was achieved by 24 wt% RT-BILP-101 MMMs, for which the CO₂ permeability increases up to 2.8-fold (from 9.6 to 27 Barrer) compared to the bare Matrimid^®.

The nature and evolution of the hydrocarbon pool (HP) species during the Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process for three small-pore zeolite catalysts, with a different framework consisting of large cages interconnected by small eight-ring windows (CHA, DDR, and LEV) was studied at reaction temperatures between 350 and 450 °C using a combination of operando UV-vis spectroscopy and online gas chromatography. It was found that small differences in cage size, shape, and pore structure of the zeolite frameworks result in the generation of different hydrocarbon pool species. More specifically, it was found that the large cage of CHA results in the formation of a wide variety of hydrocarbon pool species, mostly alkylated benzenes and naphthalenes. In the DDR cage, 1-methylnaphthalene is preferentially formed, while the small LEV cage generally contains fewer hydrocarbon pool species. The nature and evolution of these hydrocarbon pool species was linked with the stage of the reaction using a multivariate analysis of the operando UV-vis spectra. In the 3-D pore network of CHA, the reaction temperature has only a minor effect on the performance of the MTO catalyst. However, for the 2-D pore networks of DDR and LEV, an increase in the applied reaction temperature resulted in a dramatic increase in catalytic activity. For all zeolites in this study, the role of the hydrocarbon species changes with reaction temperature. This effect is most clear in DDR, in which diamantane and 1-methylnaphthalene are deactivating species at a reaction temperature of 350 °C, whereas at higher temperatures diamantane formation is not observed and 1-methylnaphthalene is an active species. This results in a different amount and nature of coke species in the deactivated catalyst, depending on zeolite framework and reaction temperature.

Zeolites with DDR (Sigma-1 and ZSM-58) and CHA (SSZ-13) topology were synthesized by seed assisted and direct hydrothermal synthesis in order to investigate the effects of fast crystal growth on catalytic performance. Application of small amount of seeds (0.1% wt) significantly reduced synthesis time of all the studied zeolites. XRD and NH₃-TPD analyses did not reveal any difference in crystallinity and acidity. On the other hand, IR spectroscopy clearly demonstrates the presence of multiple defects, internal silanols (3729 cm^-1) and silanol nests (3400 cm^-1), as a result of accelerated crystal growth kinetics. Comparison of catalytic properties in the dimethyl ether to olefins (DMTO) reaction at 400°C and 450°C revealed that, despite smaller crystal sizes, zeolites prepared by secondary growth display shorter lifetimes due to faster coking rates, the latter being a result of silanols promoting hydrogen transfer reactions. Fluoride treatment of CHA removed silanols and prolonged its lifetime. This work highlights the importance of zeolite quality for catalytic application and the necessity to optimize current synthetic protocols based on secondary growth.

A systematic study of the effect of physicochemical properties affecting catalyst deactivation, overall olefin selectivity and ethylene/propylene ratio during the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction is presented for two zeolites with the DDR topology, namely Sigma-1 and ZSM-58. Both catalysts show high selectivity towards light olefins and completely suppress the formation of hydrocarbons bigger than C4, with selectivity to ethane not exceeding 1% and some traces of propane. By applying seeded growth approach, a series of Sigma-1 zeolites with tunable crystal size and acidity was synthesized. For this series the highest methanol throughput at 450 °C before deactivation was found for crystals 0.5 μm in size with an acidity corresponding to 0.5 Al atoms per zeolite cage, and a selectivity to ethylene and propylene reaching 90%. Comparison between ZSM-58 and Sigma-1 catalysts with similar morphologies and acidity under the same reaction conditions revealed a three times higher throughput of methanol in case of ZSM-58. The analysis of functional surface groups, assessed through FT-IR, revealed the presence of silanol defects in Sigma-1 responsible for faster catalyst deactivation. These silanol defects can be selectively removed (confirmed by FT-IR) from the zeolite framework by applying a mild treatment in presence of NaOH/CTAB, leading to an improved catalyst lifetime. Co-feeding experiments with short olefins and water show low reactivity of primary MTO products, which only react at the surface of the catalyst particles. These results demonstrate that migration of the reaction zone in case of DDR catalysts hardly affects catalyst stability, product composition and nature of deactivating species. The nature of these species depends mostly on reaction temperature: at low temperatures deactivation occurs mainly due to the formation of inert adamantane species, while at high temperatures poly-condensed aromatic hydrocarbons play the major role in deactivation.

Incorporation of Ca in ZSM-5 results in a twofold increase of propylene selectivity (53 %), a total light-olefin selectivity of 90 %, and a nine times longer catalyst lifetime (throughput 792 g_MeOH g_catalyst ⁻¹) in the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction. Analysis of the product distribution and theoretical calculations reveal that post-synthetic modification with Ca²⁺ leads to the formation of CaOCaOH⁺ that strongly weaken the acid strength of the zeolite. As a result, the rate of hydride transfer and oligomerization reactions on these sites is greatly reduced, resulting in the suppression of the aromatic cycle. Our results further highlight the importance of acid strength on product selectivity and zeolite lifetime in MTO chemistry.

The front cover artwork for Issue 19/2016 is provided by researchers from the Catalysis Engineering group at TU Delft (The Netherlands). The image shows that after impregnation with Ca, ZSM-5 becomes a “super-catalyst”, which is able to suppress formation of aromatics thus increasing selectivity to the desired propylene in MTO reaction. See the Full Paper itself at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201600650.