The effect of non-ionic surfactant in the microwave-assisted synthesis of MTT zeolite optimized by Taguchi method

•MTT zeolite was synthesized in surfactant medium under microwave irradiation.•Aging time has the utmost contribution on catalyst mean crystal length (MCL).•The optimum BET surface area was observed when Brij 78/SiO2 ratio is 0.07.

Here, we report the combination of microwave-assisted synthesis with surfactant as a growth modifier optimized by an orthogonal design method. The effect of a nonionic surfactant, polyoxyethylene 20 stearyl ether (Brij 78) was investigated in the synthesis of MTT zeolite under microwave irradiation. Incorporation of Brij 78 surfactant into a synthesis mixture of SiO2–Al2O3–NaOH–Brij 78–isopropyl amine–H2O was performed at different Brij 78/SiO2 ratio (0.00, 0.04 and 0.07) with different sample precursor aging time in the range of 5 to 48 h. The Taguchi method and the Pareto Analysis of variance were used to elaborate the effects of Brij 78/SiO2 ratio and aging time in (i) minimizing samples mean crystal length (MCL) and (ii) maximizing BET surface areas. Aging time was the most significant parameter in minimizing the MCL of samples, while Brij 78/SiO2 ratio played a significant role in improving specific surface area.