Seed-assisted fast preparation of hierarchically porous FER nanosheets through a dual-template method

Compared with the conventional microporous FER zeolite, FER nano-sheets could reduce the diffusional path lengths, increase the active catalytic sites and prolong the catalytic life. Hierarchically porous FER nano-sheets were prepared by using piperidine and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) as the dual-templates, aided with crystalline seeds. The addition of seeds to the synthesis system effectively reduced the amount the templates and shortened the crystallization time. The prepared FER zeolite exhibited nano-sheet morphology, with the thickness of the nano-sheets less than 20 nm. The FER nano-sheets possessed aggregated meso/macropore volume of larger than 0.5 cm³·g^{− 1} and external surface area higher than 100 cm²·g^{− 1}, giving excellent catalytic LDPE cracking performance by greatly reducing the cracking temperature. This method is fast, facile and cost-effective, and can be easily scale-up, possessing wide potentials in the industrial processes.