Tracking Structural Deactivation of H-Ferrierite Zeolite Catalyst During MTH with XRD

• Published in: Topics in catalysis Vol. 66; no. 17-18; pp. 1418 - 1426
• Main Authors: Capel Berdiell, Izar, Braghin, Giorgio Bruno, Cordero-Lanzac, Tomás, Beato, Pablo, Lundegaard, Lars F., Wragg, David, Bordiga, Silvia, Svelle, Stian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Catalysis; Catalysts; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coke; Deactivation; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Original Paper; Pharmacy; Physical Chemistry; Thermogravimetric analysis; Topology; Unit cell; X-ray diffraction; Zeolites; MTH; Operando; Deactivation; XRD; H-Ferrierite; Coke
• ISSN: 1022-5528; 1572-9028
• DOI: 10.1007/s11244-023-01780-0

We used the methanol-to-hydrocarbon (MTH) reaction as a shape-selective model reaction to investigate coke formation in zeolite H-Ferrierite. Despite being a 2D topology in terms of channel propagation, the FER framework displays a lattice expansion in all three dimensions of space upon deactivation. Therefore, the volume of the unit cell is an excellent X-Ray diffraction (XRD) descriptor for the catalyst deactivation. A model with dummy atoms added, also proved to be an accurate approach to measure the amount of internal coke and/or water inside the pore network correlated with thermogravimetric analysis results. While the catalyst deactivation of the H-Ferrerite during the MTH was fast, a comparably long induction period was observed. We were able to track such fast deactivation with the aforementioned descriptors by means of an operando XRD study by a standard laboratory diffractometer.