화학공학소재연구정보센터
Catalysis Letters, Vol.112, No.1-2, 13-18, 2006
New method for the study of surface acidity of zeolites by NH3-TPD, using a pH-meter equipped with an ion selective electrode
Desorbed ammonia is captured by an acetic acid solution whose concentration of ammonium ions formed by neutralization, is continuously recorded by a pH-meter equipped with an ion-selective electrode (ISE). This technique allows the study of both the acidity density and the distribution of acid site strengths. Such "strength profile" was obtained by plotting the relative rate of desorbed NH3 versus the temperature. Results obtained can be fairly well correlated with those already published. It is shown that by investigating several H-ZSM-5 zeolites with different SiO2/Al2O3 ratios, the data of acid density obtained by the ISE method are very close to those calculated from the Al content. The slight shift of the desorption peaks towards higher temperature suggests a slightly higher strength for more isolated acid sites. Zeolite structures, which are richer in Al, contain weaker acid sites, as evidenced by the H-Y when compared to the H-mordenite, while the acid sites density of the former is much higher. The ultra-stabilized Y zeolite (H-USY) shows a lower acidity density than the parent H-Y owing to the removal of some of the tetrahedral Al atoms from the framework during the preparation. The strength profile of the H-USY is also quite different from that of the H-Y. The new technique appears to be much simpler, more rapid, more informative and quite accurate when compared to the technique using a gas chromatograph equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD).