Insights into the confinement effect on isobutane alkylation with C4 olefin catalyzed by zeolite catalyst: A combined theoretical and experimental study

Elucidating the confinement effect harbours tremendous significance for isobutane alkylation with C 4 olefin . Herein, the confinement effect over zeolite catalysts was elucidated by combining DFT calculations, experiments (using the novel Beta zeolite exposing only external surfaces (Beta-E) and conventional Beta-I zeolite with both external and internal surfaces) and multi-techniques ( e . g ., TGA-DTG, HRTEM, SEM and XRD). It is found that the main active sites for C 4 alkylation reaction are located on internal surface rather than external surface. On the external surface, the hydride transfer reaction does not occur because the H-shared intermediate cannot be formed without the confinement effect. Moreover, the external surface has stronger selectivity for C 4 olefin adsorption than isobutane, leading to enhanced oligomerization reactions. Therefore, the suitable micropore with confinement effect is essential for zeolite-catalyzed C 4 alkylation. The atomic-scale insights of this work are of great referential importance to the design of highly effective zeolite catalyst.