ZSM-5
ZSM-5, Zeolite Socony Mobil–5 (framework type MFI from ZSM-5 (five)), is an aluminosilicate zeolite belonging to the pentasil family of zeolites. Its chemical formula is NanAlnSi96–nO192·16H2O (0<n<27). Patented by Mobil Oil Company in 1975, it is widely used in the petroleum industry as a heterogeneous catalyst for hydrocarbon isomerization reactions.
ZSM-5 is composed of several pentasil units linked together by oxygen bridges to form pentasil chains. A pentasil unit consists of eight five-membered rings. In these rings, the vertices are Al or Si and an O is assumed to be bonded between the vertices. The pentasil chains are interconnected by oxygen bridges to form corrugated sheets with 10-ring holes. Like the pentasil units, each 10-ring hole has Al or Si as vertices with an O assumed to be bonded between each vertex. Each corrugated sheet is connected by oxygen bridges to form a structure with "straight 10-ring channels running parallel to the corrugations and sinusoidal 10-ring channels perpendicular to the sheets." Adjacent layers of the sheets are related by an inversion point. The estimated pore size of the channel running parallel with the corrugations is 5.4–5.6 Å. The crystallographic unit cell of ZSM-5 has 96 T sites (Si or Al), 192 O sites, and a number of compensating cations depending on the Si/Al ratio, which ranges from 12 to infinity. The structure is orthorhombic (space group Pnma) at high temperatures, but a phase transition to the monoclinic space group P21/n.1.13 occurs on cooling below a transition temperature, located between 300 and 350 K.
ZSM-5 catalyst was first synthesized by Argauer and Landolt in 1969. It is a medium pore zeolite with channels defined by ten-membered rings. The synthesis involves three different solutions. The first solution is the source of alumina, sodium ions, and hydroxide ions; in the presence of excess base the alumina will form soluble Al(OH)4− ions. The second solution has the tetrapropylammonium cation that acts as a templating agent. The third solution is the source of silica, one of the basic building blocks for the framework structure of a zeolite. Mixing the three solutions produces supersaturated tetrapropylammonium ZSM-5, which can be heated to recrystallize and produce a solid.
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