Does the presence of ZSM-5 influence the catalytic activity of mesoporous molecular sieves?

Synthesis of micro/mesoporous composites has gained interest in catalytic applications, e.g., alkylation, olefin aromatization, benzene oxidation, and cracking, due to the combined advantages of microporous and mesoporous materials. Micro-mesoporous composite materials with different mesoporosity were synthesized and used as catalysts for m-xylene transformation. The composite molecular sieves, along with pure ZSM-5 and MCM-41, were investigated as FCC catalyst additives for enhancing propylene yield. The catalytic performance of these additives was evaluated in a fixed-bed MAT unit for the cracking of hydrotreated Arabian light VGO under FCC conditions. The catalytic properties of the ZSM-5/MCM-48 composite material was investigated for the alkylation of toluene with isopropanol and catalytic cracking of 1, 3, 5-triisopropylbenzene. Its catalytic activity was compared with the conventional microporous Y-zeolite. This is an abstract of a paper submitted at the 21st Annual Saudi-Japan Symposium on Catalysts in Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia 11/27-28/2011).