Synthesis of silylated nanozeolites in the presence of organic phase: Two-phase and single-phase methods

Two synthesis methods: two-phase method and single-phase one, for the preparation of silylated nanozeolites were reported. In these methods an organic solvent was used as an effective medium for the crystallization of zeolites. To illustrate these two methods, silicalite-1 was selected in this study. Various techniques including XRD, TEM, SEM, BET and NMR techniques were used to monitor the physico-chemical properties of these synthesized materials. The results revealed that the single-phase method allows producing uniform/small nanosilicalite-1, whereas the two-phase one can bring two separate products: nanosized and microsized zeolite crystals in organic phase and in aqueous phase, respectively. Furthermore, the NMR results indicate that the hydrophobic surface character of these silicalite-1 samples can be obtained even after calcination.