FER zeolite crystallized in THF–Na2O–SiO2–Al2O3–H2O reactant system containing catalytic amount of organic additives

Pure-phase FER zeolite was hydrothermally synthesized in the reactant system of Na2O–SiO2–Al2O3–H2O with tetrahydrofuran (THF) as the template in the presence of catalytic amount of glycerol [CH2(OH)CH(OH)CH2(OH), GC] or OP emulsion agent [C8H17–C6H5–O–(CH2CH2O)10OH, OP] in the temperature range of 413–473 K. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to observe the crystallization products, and scanning electron microscope (SEM), 13C cross polarization (CP) and 27Al magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray fluorescence scattering spectroscopy (XRF), thermal analysis and nitrogen adsorption were used to characterize the synthesized zeolite. The promoting role of the catalytic amount of additives in the zeolite crystallization was investigated on the restraining co-crystallization of MOR zeolite impurity, lowering the reaction temperature to 413–433 K, shortening the crystallization period to 24 h at 413 K, and modifying the morphology and the adsorption properties of the yielded zeolite products. The mechanism of the promoting role of the catalytic amount of organic additives is also discussed.