Direct insitu crystallization of highly oriented silicalite-1 thin films on a surface sol–gel process modified substrate

A new method for the fabrication of highly b-oriented silicalite-1 films is presented. With this method, the surface of the substrate of glass slides was modified with different surface coverage of Ti–OH groups by a surface sol–gel process, which enables layer-by-layer coating of a selected metal oxide on a hydroxyl-terminated surface. The modification of the glass substrate by the TiO2 layers greatly increased the density and the reactivity of the surface hydroxyl groups. After the insitu growth under normal synthetic conditions, highly b-oriented zeolite thin films were obtained. The resulting highly b-oriented zeolite thin films were further characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). This method offers a general, facile, and straightforward approach to the preparation of various zeolite films under normal synthetic conditions.

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► The surface sol–gel chemistry is introduced into the synthesis and preparation of zeolite films for the first time.
► The density and reactivity of the surface hydroxyl groups of substrate are greatly increased.
► The b-oriented silicalite-1 films were prepared on surface sol–gel process modified substrate via in situ crystallization.
► This method offers a straightforward approach to the preparation of various zeolite films under normal synthetic conditions.