Abstract
The present work deals with the study of the parameters which govern the partial conversion of the amorphous walls of Al-SBA-15 supports into ZSM-5 type deposits under alkaline aqueous conditions. The influence of the mode of insertion of aluminium into Al-SBA-15 as well as of the quantities of ammonium fluoride and ZSM-5 template (TPABr) has been investigated. XRD and nitrogen sorption data indicate that the mesopore network is very fragile under the conditions required for the crystallization of ZSM-5. A compromise was found by using a TPABr/Al molar ratio lower than 1, thus affording materials containing both mesopores and zeolite-type micropores. The combined use of hyperpolarized (HP) Xe-129 NMR and alpha-plot studies gave evidence for the ZSM-5 nature of the micropores as well as some indications in favour of the interconnection of the different pore networks.