Conversion to aromatic hydrocarbons over nano- and micro-sized particle La/Zn/HZSM-5 catalysts

The effect of the template of HZSM-5 and its synthesis method on the catalytic conversions of ethanol to aromatic hydrocarbons has been investigated over a 0.8%Zn/0.6%La/HZSM-5 (Si/Al₂ = 50) catalyst in a fixed-bed flow reactor under operating conditions of T = 710 K, P = 1 bar, and WHSV = 0.8 hr^-1. Nano- and micro-size HZSM-5 were prepared by hydrothermal and microwave synthesis with different templates: TPAOH, TPABr, and HMDA. Zinc and lanthanum modified HZSM-5 catalysts were prepared by a simple co-impregnation method. It was found that the size of the particles and the crystal structure of HZSM-5 were influenced by the template type and synthesis method. When using the TPAOH template, the nano-sized particles were prepared by microwave synthesis, whereas HZSM-5 prepared from TPABr and HMDA by a hydrothermal method, were composed of cubic shaped nanocrystals inside a micro-sized particle. The effect of the template on the selectivity to aromatics over a La/Zn/HZSM-5 catalyst was shown as follows: HMDA > TPABr > TPAOH.