Synthesis and characterization of hollow zeolite microspheres with a mesoporous shell by O/W/O emulsion and vapor-phase transport method

Hollow microspheres of ZSM-5 with a mesoporous shell have been synthesized through formation of amorphous hollow SiO2/Al2O3 microspheres by sol–gel process in multiple oil–water–oil emulsions and transformation of the amorphous species into zeolite by water–organic vapor-phase transport treatment at 160 °C for 8 days. The morphology of the amorphous and zeolite spheres observed by scanning electron microscopy shows no significant change whereas the molar ratio of Si/Al increases from 6 to 20 during the transformation. The structural feature of zeolite was characterized by X-ray diffraction and 29Si and 27Al magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance. Transmission electron microscopy and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms indicate that uniform mesopores in the shell of zeolite spheres arise from the interstices among zeolite crystallites.