Microfibrous-structured hollow-ZSM-5/SS-fiber catalyst with mesoporosity development dependent lifetime improvement for MTP reaction

A promising thin-felt stainless-steel-fiber (SS-fiber) structured hollow-ZSM-5/SS-fiber catalyst is developed through alkali leaching of the full-silica core from the silicalite-1@ZSM-5/SS-fiber. A silicalite-1 seeded dry-gel/SS-fiber is obtained by dip-coating technique and is then transformed into the silicalite-1@ZSM-5/SS-fiber (overall SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio of 93) via seed-assisted dry gel conversion method. Such catalyst shows marked enhancement of mesoporosity development because of the abundant hollow structures left behind after the silicalite-1 core removal by alkali treatment in a mild Na₂CO₃ media. The effect of alkali-treated time length on catalyst structure, textural and acidic properties as well as methanol-to-propylene (MTP) performance is systematically investigated. As-obtained catalyst, with well-maintained Brönsted acid sites after alkali treatment, shows hollow-structure-dependent stability improvement in the MTP and n-hexane cracking processes due to markedly enhanced diffusion.