Synthesis of all-silica BEA-type material in basic media

Abstract: Previous investigations have shown that an all-silica BEA-type (Si-BEA) material is difficult to be nucleated in basic media and that the fluorosilicic precursors formed in near neutral media play an important role in its formation. The present study reports on the synthesis of this microporous material under basic conditions by using TEA2SiF6 as an additional silica source that provides preformed fluorosilicate species. The effect of the amount of TEA2SiF6 on the purity of the final product, crystallization kinetics and morphological features of Si-BEA were systematically studied. The investigation showed that above a certain concentration corresponding to TEA2SiF6/SiO2 =0.07 pure Si-BEA was obtained and further increase in the concentration improved substantially the crystallization kinetics. The increase in TEA2SiF6 content led also to a gradual increase of the size of the pyramidal (h 0l) face coupled with the decrease of pinacoidal (001) one. Thus, the morphology of the zeolite crystals can be varied from well developed truncated bipyramids to plate-like crystals with dominating pinacoidal faces. A consequence of this morphological changes is the number the pore openings of the channel systems running along the a- and c-axes per total external surface. The framework defectness and water content in the synthesized materials were studied by 29Si NMR spectroscopy and TG analysis, respectively. This combined study revealed that materials with a high level of hydrophobicity, due to the specific effect of fluorine anions, have been synthesized under basic conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]