Coke location in microporous and hierarchical ZSM-5 and the impact on the MTH reaction

•Coke deposits in microporous and hierarchical ZSM-5 are studied in MTH reaction.•EDX line scans along particle cross-section show different localization of coke.•Coke removal for reuse in MTH reaction results in different acidity properties.•Therefore, reactivated materials have different catalytic performances.

The deactivation and reactivation of microporous and hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites have been studied in the methanol-to-hydrocarbon (MTH) reaction. The hierarchical ZSM-5 was synthesized via the desilication reassembly technique using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant. The catalysts differed significantly in the catalytic behavior after the reactivation procedure. This is ascribed to a different coke location in the deactivated catalysts arising from the difference in the porosity. The microporous ZSM-5 showed a coke gradient over the particle with a stronger accumulation of carbonaceous species in the outer particle layers, whereas a homogeneous coke distribution was observed for the deactivated hierarchical ZSM-5. Due to the diverging coke distribution, the irreversible damage of the zeolitic structure caused by reactivation differs for both catalysts. This fact is assumed to be the reason for the different deactivation/reactivation behaviors of these two zeolitic systems.

Graphical abstractDeactivation and reactivation behavior of microporous and hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites have been studied in the methanol-to-hydrocarbon (MTH) reaction. The location of the coke deposits in the deactivated materials depends on their textural properties.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (174 K)Download as PowerPoint slide