Issue 11, 2017

Violations of Löwenstein's rule in zeolites

Abstract

Zeolites, microporous aluminosilicates, are amongst the most widely used catalysts in the petrochemical industry. Zeolite catalytic functionality is influenced by the location of tetrahedral alumina and associated counter-cations in the aluminosilicate framework, yet little is definitively known about the factors that govern the framework aluminium arrangement. It is generally accepted that all zeolites obey Löwenstein's rule of “aluminium avoidance”, and that –Al–O–Al– bond formation is forbidden. Here, we describe an unprecedented screening of aluminium distribution in catalytically active zeolite SSZ-13 (CHA) in both its protonated and sodium-containing forms, H-SSZ-13 and Na-SSZ-13, using density functional theory (DFT). We predict violations of Löwenstein's rule in high and low silica H-SSZ-13 and other protonated frameworks considered in this investigation: H-LTA, H-RHO, H-ABW and H-MOR. The synthetic realisation of these zeolites could spur the development of new catalytic routes and materials, and the optimisation of existing zeolite catalysts.

Graphical abstract: Violations of Löwenstein's rule in zeolites

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
06 Jun 2017
Accepted
05 Sep 2017
First published
05 Sep 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 7483-7491

Violations of Löwenstein's rule in zeolites

R. E. Fletcher, S. Ling and B. Slater, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 7483 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC02531A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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