Nonionic emulsion-mediated synthesis of zeolite beta

Zeolite beta synthesis was first carried out in a newly developed emulsion system containing nonionic polyoxyethylated alkylphenol surfactant, which showed interesting non-conventional features. Compared to the conventional hydrothermal synthesis of zeolite beta, the reported nonionic emulsion system showed a faster nucleation rate. Furthermore, the emulsion system could stabilize the beta product and retarded its further transformation to ZSM-5 even under the high crystallization temperature at 453 K. Additionally, the beta particle size could be tuned by the adoption of different lengths of alkyl chain in the surfactant and cosurfactant. Control experiments showed each emulsion component played a crucial role in the zeolite beta growth. The approach proposed in this paper might be extended to apply for the syntheses of other types of zeolites with particle size under control.