Study of the influence of gel composition in the synthesis of self-supported silicalite-1 layers

In this work, the synthesis of self-supported layers over mercury was carried out. Influence of the amount of water, TPA+, OH− and Na+ in the precursor gel was investigated for this kind of synthesis. Layers were characterized by X-ray diffraction to study their crystallographic structure, scanning electron microscopy to determine their thickness and crystal properties, and mercury porosimetry for the determination of layer density.

► Synthesis of self-supported layers over mercury was successfully carried out.
► We studied the influence of TPA+, OH−, Na+ and the dilution of precursor gel.
► We found no influence of Na+ in the synthesis of such kind of layers.
► An increase of water, TPA+ or OH− produces a lower kinetics of zeolite growing.
► The low synthesis kinetics produces a decrease of layer thickness.