Zeolite nanocrystals inside mesoporous TUD-1: a high-performance catalytic composite.

A hierarchically structured composite material with interconnecting meso- and micropores has been developed with the aim to optimize zeolite performance. A general synthetic method has been developed that, in a controlled manner, allows for various types of nanosized zeolite to be incorporated into a three-dimensional mesoporous matrix. Nanosized zeolite Beta was used to exemplify this new approach, resulting in a system in which zeolite Beta shows a higher cracking activity per gram of zeolite than pure nanosized zeolite Beta for the model feed n-hexane. Additionally, FTIR studies of CO and NH3 adsorption revealed that the nature of the acid sites in the nanozeolite has been partially modified due to the interactions with the mesoporous matrix, TUD-1.