Promoting Xylene Production in Benzene Methylation using Hierarchically Porous ZSM-5 Derived from a Modified Dry-gel Route

Methylation of benzene is an alternative low-cost route to produce xylenes, but selectivity to xylene remains low over conventional zeolitic catalysts. In this work, a combined dry-gel-conversion and steam-assisted-crystallization method is used to synthesize hierarchically porous zeolite ZSM-5 with varied Si/Al malar ratios. X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, NH3-temperature programmed desorption (TPD), scanning electronic microscopic (SEM) measurement and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) are employed to characterize the structure and acidity of both hierarchically porous zeolites and their conventional counterparts. The method is found to be applicable to ZSM-5 with molar ratios of Si/Al from 20 to 180. The ZSM-5 zeolites are used as catalysts for benzene methylation at 460 °C to investigate the effect of additional porosity and Si/Al ratios. At low Si/Al ratios, the benzene conversions over conventional and hierarchical ZSM-5 are close, and selectivity to toluene is high over hierarchical ZSM-5. It is found that hierarchical porosity markedly enhances the utility of zeolite and the selectivity towards xylenes via improved mass transport at higher Si/Al ratios. Under an optimized hierarchical ZSM-5 catalyst, xylene selectivity reaches 34.9% at a Si/Al ratio of 180.

Graphical abstractHierarchically porous ZSM-5 effectively promotes xylene selectivity for catalytic benzene methylation. Under an optimized hierarchical ZSM-5 catalyst, xylene selectivity reaches 34.9% at a Si/Al ratio of 180.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide