NSF Award
2331027
Zeolites are an industrially important class of materials that enable the conversion of low value molecules, for example, the undesirable components of crude oil, into higher value molecules that can be used in transportation fuels and plastics production. Their highly ordered atomic-level structures are what enable these chemical conversions. The ability to control where specific elements are incorporated in these materials would be transformative, leading to improvements in existing technologies, and likely enable new ones such as converting biomass to higher value products. However, this is not currently possible. This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) proposal seeks to change the status quo by developing design criteria to control placement of specific elements in the structure during synthesis. The proposed work is designed such that it will be possible to rapidly assess the transformative potential of the concept, i.e., a low-investment approach with large potential impact. If successful, this will give the scientific community a new approach to controlling the properties of zeolites and other industrially important materials at the atomic level. <br/><br/>Zeolites are widely used in catalysis as a result of their discrete pore sizes, controllable framework compositions and exchangeable extra-framework cations. Controlling local structure, most notably the manipulation of the spatial arrangement of framework aluminum, has been a long-sought goal in the research community. The EAGER project seeks to solve this challenge by combining the concepts of using 1) the charge distribution of the organic structure-directing agent (OSDA) and 2) basic insights as to how the OSDA is incorporated in the as-made zeolite to control the arrangement of aluminum i.e., control the active site arrangement. The proposed work plan will enable rapid assessment of the feasibility synthesizing compositionally similar ZSM-12 materials that possess different spatial arrangements of aluminum by using different OSDAs. The ability to modify the spatial arrangement of aluminum in the zeolite framework based on the OSDA charge distribution and knowledge of how the OSDAs pack in the zeolite pores would be transformative, and represent a significant step towards ‘catalysts by design’. Aside from the primary graduate student assigned to the project, an undergraduate student will assist in the project, thus receiving training in zeolite synthesis and characterization methods.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
