Impact of the crystal size of beta zeolite on the structural quality of zeolite templated carbons

T Aumond and M Esteves and Y Pouilloux and R Faccio and A Sachse, MICROPOROUS AND MESOPOROUS MATERIALS, 331, 111644 (2022).

DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2021.111644

The impact of the crystal size of the template zeolite on the textural properties of resulting Zeolite Templated Carbons was studied using nano- (20 nm) and micron-sized (5 mu m) zeolite beta crystals. ZTCs were obtained for both nano- and micron-sized zeolite beta crystals, yet for the micron-sized sample the presence of supermicropores and small mesopores was detected, indicating a higher degree of structural defects during the templating process and hence in the final ZTC. The insights gained from nitrogen physisorption were confirmed by TEM, TGA and XPS. Despite, long range structural order, evidenced by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) for both, nano- and micron-sized ZTCs was inferred. These results suggests that XRD patterns allow to evidence the well- ordered part of the sample but might not be the method of choice for characterizing the structural quality of ZTCs. Simulated XRD powder patterns allowed to propose a graphene-based nanoribbon structure grown in the zeolite pores as a satisfactory model for ZTCs in beta zeolite.

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