Síntese de zeólita FAU com cristais nanométricos para fins de adsorção

Abstract

Significant investments have been made in the development of technologies that enable the drying process of natural gas. The molecular sieves are highlighted in this context, due to features such as ion exchange capacity, thermal stability and especially for its ability to selective adsorption. The nanocrystalline structure favors the water diffusion into the pores of the material, providing greater adsorption efficiency. Therefore, the zeolite nano offers attractive possibilities in the exploration of their use in catalytic and adsorption processes. In this context, the present study aimed to vary some parameters such as aging time, the Si/Al ratio and the mineralizing source in order to synthesize nanocrystalline zeolites faujasitas. Diffractogramsshow that the high alkalinity along with increased aging time were effective for the peak intensity reduction. The Scherrer equation confirms that this decrease is due to obtain nanosized crystals. It is observed by SEM that the change of these same parameters also favored particle size reduction. Thermogravimetryresults enable us to find that 30% of the sample weight loss was water, although the adsorption of the sample was not induced. This fact confirms that even at ambient temperature and pressure, the nanocrystalline faujasite is highly hydrophilic. Adsorption isotherms of synthesized samples indicated that the material has a large surface area and a pore volume which favors and benefits its application in water adsorption. The adsorption tests made in situ at the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS in Portuguese), XPDanalysis (X-Ray Diffraction Powder), note that its structure remains stable after adsorption and high temperatures, presenting a promising material in drying. Data from X-ray diffraction showed that the decrease of Si/Al ratio in the reaction mixture, both by source of alumina or silica, was not effective to increase the aluminum content in the network and eventually contributed to the emergence of other competing phases with FAU zeolite, thus compromising its purity. These phases also appeared when the alkalinity is increased in the synthesis at a temperature of 100°C (crystallization), where GIS (NaP1) and CAN phaseswere favored. The crystallization temperature reduce to 70°C was enough to solve this problem and show that all samples showed a reduction in the crystallite sizes with increasing external area. 29Si NMR analysis showed that the physicochemical changes done helped to reduce the Si/Al enough to obtain faujasite X. All samples synthesized in this study, regardless of the impurities, showed a reduction in pore volume, even with a rise in external area. The adsorption tests made with CO2, CH2 and N2 have shown that the faujasite has a larger adsorption capacity than commercial zeolite NaA.