Synthesis of the nanosized MCM-22 zeolite and its catalytic performance in methane dehydro-aromatization reaction

•Nanosized MCM-22 is prepared by self-assembly and in-situ crystallization.•PDDA is the protection agent to avoid the synthesis colloids self-aggregation.•Nanosized MCM-22 shows good catalytic performance in MDA reaction.

A novel and facile synthesis method based on the combination of self-assembly and in-situ crystallization is developed for the preparation of nanosized MCM-22 zeolites (simplified as MCM-22-NZ hereafter) of about 40 nm, where the cationic polymer, PDDA, was added to play a role of protecting agent to avoid the synthesis colloids self-aggregation. MCM-22-NZ was characterized by XRD, TEM, DLS, NH3-TPD, XRF, TG and N2 adsorption analysis. The catalytic activity of MCM-22-NZ in methane dehydro-aromatization (MDA) reaction was also studied. Mo/HMCM-22-NZ showed better methane conversion, higher benzene yield and more considerable durability of the catalyst as compared to the conventional microsized catalyst.

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