Efficient liquid-phase ethylation of benzene with ethylene over mesoporous MCM-22 catalyst

• Mesoporous MCM-22 zeolites were synthesized using carbon black particles as hard templates.
• Mesoporous MCM-22 possesses intercrystal mesopores and a larger external surface area.
• It exhibited a better catalytic performance in the ethylation of benzene than conventional MCM-22.

Mesoporous MCM-22 zeolites with Si/Al ratios of 15–45 were hydrothermally synthesized through a hard template technique by carbon black particles. The physicochemical properties of mesoporous MCM-22 were characterized by XRD, SEM, N2 adsorption, TEM, XPS, ICP, TGA-DTA and NH3-TPD techniques. In comparison with conventional MCM-22, mesoporous MCM-22 showed an obvious hysteresis loop in N2 adsorption–desorption isotherm, and possessed 4–10 nm mesopores as well as a larger external surface area. The presence of mesopores was beneficial to increase the accessibility of zeolitic acid sites and to decrease the mass transfer limitations of bulky molecules. When employed to liquid-phase ethylation of benzene with ethylene, mesoporous MCM-22 exhibited higher ethylene conversion, higher selectivity to ethylated benzenes and better stability than conventional MCM-22, potentially serving as a solid-acid catalyst in petrochemical industry.

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