Abstract
An amorphous porous hexagonal aluminosilicate Al-ZAT was prepared using liquid crystal phase of Brij-56 and preformed MFI zeolite nanoclusters solution through bottom-up approach. The HCl concentration (0.5-2.0 M), HCl to Brij-56 ratio and zeolitic seed solution wss varied for the mesoporous system at ambient synthesis condition. The optimum Brij-56 to HCl ratio was found to be 1 Brij 56: 9-19 HCl (0.5 M) by mass. The addition of preformed zeolite seed (7-14 ml) as precursor solution instead of conventional silica source tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS) generate uniform mesophase and subsequently avoids formation of methanol (from TMOS hydrolysis) that affects liquid crystalline mesophase. MCM-41 (ZMCM-41) and SBA-15 (ZSBA-15) derived from similar zeolite precursor solution was synthesized for comparative study. The porous textural characteristics, and type of surface acidity were studied. The analysis showed a highly porous hexagonal structure of Al-ZAT. ZMCM-41 prepared through top-down approach, showed formation of ordered nanostructured mesoporous (disordered hexagonal). Al-ZAT and ZSBA-15 shows weaker Bronsted acid sites compared to ZMCM-41.