Effect of synthesis parameters and ion exchange on crystallinity and morphology of EU-1 zeolite

The effect of aging time, synthesis temperature and synthesis time on crystallinity and morphology of Na-EU-1 has been studied. Hexamethonium bromide was used as a template to synthesize Na-EU-1 zeolite with Si/Al of 25. In addition, the effect of modification using ion exchange with (NH4+, Ca2+, Li+ and Ni+) nitrates to replace Na+ was also studied. X-ray diffraction was used to study the phases and the crystallinity of zeolite crystals. Morphology of EU-1 crystals was observed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Prolonged aging time up to 12 h favored pure phase and crystalline EU-1. It has been found that the optimum synthesis temperature to obtain highly crystalline EU-1 is 190 °C. The shortest synthesis time to obtain crystalline EU-1 at 190 °C is 72 h. Ion exchange reduced the crystallinity of EU-1 crystals. We anticipate that the metal-modified EU-1 is a potential catalyst in numerous reactions such as isomerization and methanol-to-hydrocarbon.