Creation of silanol nests on HZSM-5 catalyst to boost the alkylation of toluene with methanol for PX synthesis

HZSM-5 catalysts with abundant silanol nests were fabricated by removing framework Al, which effectively promoted the selective alkylation of toluene with methanol by inhibiting the deep alkylation of aromatics to heavy aromatics and the conversion of methanol to light hydrocarbons. Correspondingly, the alkylation efficiency reached 65.3% at a toluene conversion of 31.3% over dealuminated HZSM-5, higher than the 55.2% efficiency and 28.0% conversion of parent zeolites, respectively. In situ DRIFTS and single-factor experimental clarified that toluene adsorption was enhanced and methanol to hydrocarbons was inhibited with the presence of silanol nests. Additionally, by increasing the crystal size of HZSM-5 with silanol nests from 2 to 5 µm, para-xylene selectivity was increased from 36.1% to 65.5% because of the enhanced diffusion barrier . The finding of the positive effect of the silanol nests on toluene alkylation can provide a solid fundamental basis for the rational design of catalysts.