A novel approach to synthesize in-situ crystallized zeolite/kaolin composites with high zeolite content

Research Highlights•A generic route for preparing in-situ crystallized zeolite/kaolin composite was developed;•The alkali solution aided activation can high-effectively activate kaolin microspheres;•The synthesized composites have high zeolite content yet outstanding attrition index;•And the resulting composites show superior activity in fluid catalytic cracking.

We present an alkali solution aided (ASA) activation approach to activate kaolin microspheres and its application to synthesize in-situ crystallized zeolite/kaolin composite materials. Compared with conventional thermal activation methods, the ASA activation can high-effectively convert silicon and aluminum species in kaolin microspheres into active silica and alumina for synthesizing zeolite/kaolin composites, leading to a successful synthesis of zeolite/kaolin composites with high zeolite content and outstanding attrition resistance. When used as a fluid catalytic cracking catalyst, the resulting zeolite Y/kaolin composite gave high conversion efficiency of vacuum oil and high selectivity to valuable products.

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