A high acid mesoporous USY zeolite prepared by alumination

A high-acidity HUSY zeolite with mesoporous structure was prepared by alumination with a dilute aqueous NaAlO2 solution and characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption, IR framework vibration and 29Si MAS NMR methods. The results indicated the extra-framework aluminum was reinserted into the tetrahedral framework through isomorphic substitution of framework Si (0Al) sites by Al ions, whereas the crystal and micropore structure were unaltered. FTIR spectra of hydroxyl vibrations and pyridine adsorbed on realuminated zeolites showed that the number of Brfinsted acid sites and strong Lewis acid sites increased whereas weak Lewis acid sites decreased twice. The mesoporous structure composed of inter-and intra-crystalline pores in the aluminated HUSY increased the external surface area of the zeolite, improving accessibility of molecules to the active sites and enhancing its catalytic ability. The realuminated HUSY zeolite supported with Ru catalyst exhibited a higher catalytic activity for benzene hydrogenation than the parent HUSY zeolite; the reaction rate in comparison to the mesozeolite increased by 5.5 times.