Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy Study of ZSM-5 Zeolite and MCM-41 Mesoporous Materials

Abstract Zeolites are crystalline aluminosilicates possessing a regular microporous channel network. Unique properties of zeolites such as the presence of framework cations, acid sites, and their well-defined porous structure-with pore sizes similar to those of small molecules-account for their traditional utilization in ion exchange, catalysis, and separation. in addition, zeolites are being investigated for novel emerging applications in a diversity of areas including optoelectronic devices and reactive membranes because they provide for discrimination, recognition, and organization of molecules with a precision of less 1 Å. However, their applications are limited by the relatively small pore openings; therefore, pore enlargement was one of the main aspects in zeolite chemistry. A new class of porous materials, which contain large uniform spaces in the mesopore size regimen (15-100 Å), was reported. These so-called mesoporous materials have two different characters, disorder at the atomic scale but long range order at the atomic scale but long range order at the mesoscopic scale.