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Nano Research 2022, 15(6): 5322-5330 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4108-x
Research Article | Issue | Published: 15 March 2022

Direct imaging and mechanism study of C6 α-olefin adsorption on faujasite and Linde Type A zeolites

Show Author's Information Ruihan Yang1,  Xiao Chen2,  Junxiang Ma3,  Yuan Gao3,  Yujun Wang1( ),  Guangsheng Luo1
State Key Lab of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Lu’an Chemical Group CO., LTD., Changzhi046299, China
Keywords:
electron microscopy, zeolites, host–guest interactions, adsorption separation, α-olefins
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Yang R, Chen X, Ma J, et al. Direct imaging and mechanism study of C6 α-olefin adsorption on faujasite and Linde Type A zeolites. Nano Research, 2022, 15(6): 5322-5330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4108-x
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Abstract Full text About this article

Linear α-olefins are important chemical raw materials. To purify α-olefins from a high-temperature Fischer–Tropsch synthetic oil, it is necessary to separate the α-olefins from the paraffins, which is challenging. Adsorption separation by zeolites is a promising alternative to energy-intensive distillation for α-olefin/paraffin separation. An integrated differential phase-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (iDPC-STEM) technique is used in combination with density functional theory (DFT) simulations and batch adsorption experiments to study the adsorption behavior of C6 α-olefins and the mechanism of selective adsorption of C6 α-olefin/paraffin. Direct electron microscopy real-space imaging of the atomic frameworks of the faujasite (FAU) and Linde Type A (LTA) zeolites and the C6 α-olefin-adsorption positions on their lattices is achieved through iDPC-STEM. The images provide direct evidence that C6 α-olefins preferentially adsorb at the edges of the FAU and LTA zeolite cavities. DFT calculations further reveal the relationship between host–guest interactions and different molecular orientations. Calculated and experimental results also show that the presence of calcium cations can enhance the selectivity of zeolites for α-olefin/paraffin adsorption. This work provides a means to investigate the behavior of guest molecules and the host–guest interactions in the adsorption or catalytic process of nanoporous materials.


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About this article

Direct imaging and mechanism study of C6 α-olefin adsorption on faujasite and Linde Type A zeolites

Show Author's information Ruihan Yang1, Xiao Chen2, Junxiang Ma3, Yuan Gao3, Yujun Wang1( ), Guangsheng Luo1
State Key Lab of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Lu’an Chemical Group CO., LTD., Changzhi046299, China

Abstract

Linear α-olefins are important chemical raw materials. To purify α-olefins from a high-temperature Fischer–Tropsch synthetic oil, it is necessary to separate the α-olefins from the paraffins, which is challenging. Adsorption separation by zeolites is a promising alternative to energy-intensive distillation for α-olefin/paraffin separation. An integrated differential phase-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (iDPC-STEM) technique is used in combination with density functional theory (DFT) simulations and batch adsorption experiments to study the adsorption behavior of C6 α-olefins and the mechanism of selective adsorption of C6 α-olefin/paraffin. Direct electron microscopy real-space imaging of the atomic frameworks of the faujasite (FAU) and Linde Type A (LTA) zeolites and the C6 α-olefin-adsorption positions on their lattices is achieved through iDPC-STEM. The images provide direct evidence that C6 α-olefins preferentially adsorb at the edges of the FAU and LTA zeolite cavities. DFT calculations further reveal the relationship between host–guest interactions and different molecular orientations. Calculated and experimental results also show that the presence of calcium cations can enhance the selectivity of zeolites for α-olefin/paraffin adsorption. This work provides a means to investigate the behavior of guest molecules and the host–guest interactions in the adsorption or catalytic process of nanoporous materials.

Keywords: electron microscopy, zeolites, host–guest interactions, adsorption separation, α-olefins

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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 05 November 2021
Revised: 14 December 2021
Accepted: 23 December 2021
Published: 15 March 2022
Issue date: June 2022

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21991102 and 21878169), Key Technologies Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFA0905100), and Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (No. 2018Z05JZY010).

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