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Zeolites are microporous materials that are of industrial importance for various catalytic applications. In this Focus issue we highlight recent advances in the understanding of catalytic processes and nanoscale synthesis in these systems, discuss fundamental challenges and issues in commercialising research, and survey the latest understanding of structure and chemistry of these frameworks.
Avelino Corma, professor at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ-CSIC-Polytechnical University of Valencia), talks to Nature Materials about challenges facing zeolites, and issues faced in commercializing research.
Zeolitic catalyst particles are grown with nanosized fins that improve mass transport into the interior of the particle. This delays catalyst deactivation in the methanol-to-hydrocarbons process.
Lewis acid aluminium sites in zeolites enable some industrially relevant catalytic reactions, such as biomass valorization. This Perspective explores the origin and interpretation of these species, and discusses characterization techniques that can close knowledge gaps.
Nanosized zeolites enable better catalytic performance; however, their synthesis is non-trivial. Here, a simple treatment is presented that enables the growth of nanosized fins on zeolites that act as pseudo-nanoparticles, reducing deactivation rates for methanol-to-hydrocarbon catalysis.
The methanol-to-hydrocarbons reaction on zeolites produces olefins from many sources, but catalyst stability is a major challenge. Here, by combining operando measurements and simulations, the formation and identification of deactivating carbonaceous species throughout the reaction are achieved.
Production of olefins from biomass-derived γ-valerolactone could lead to sustainable chemical processes, but catalysts suffer from deactivation due to water. Here, a MFI-type zeolite doped with Nb(v) and Al(iii) shows >99% yield at 320 °C and catalyst stability over 180 hours.
Subnanometre Pt clusters show high catalytic activity, but can sinter and so reduce reactivity. Here, authors localize Pt clusters in one zeolite channel, preventing sintering and allowing highly stable and selective catalytic propane dehydrogenation.