In Situ Multinuclear Magic-Angle Spinning NMR: Monitoring Crystallization of Molecular Sieve AlPO4-11 in Real Time

Molecular sieves are crystalline three-dimensional frameworks with well-defined channels and cavities. They have been widely used in industry for many applications such as gas separation/purification, ion exchange, and catalysis. Obviously, understanding the formation mechanisms is fundamentally important. High-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy is a powerful method for the study of molecular sieves. However, due to technical challenges, the vast majority of the high-resolution solid-state NMR studies on molecular sieve crystallization are ex situ. In the present work, using a new commercially available NMR rotor that can withhold high pressure and high temperature, we examined the formation of molecular sieve AlPO₄-11 under dry gel conversion conditions by in situ multinuclear (¹H, ²⁷Al, ³¹P, and ¹³C) magic-angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR. In situ high-resolution NMR spectra obtained as a function of heating time provide much insights underlying the crystallization mechanism of AlPO₄-11. Specifically, in situ ²⁷Al and ³¹P MAS NMR along with ¹H → ³¹P cross-polarization (CP) MAS NMR were used to monitor the evolution of the local environments of framework Al and P, in situ ¹H → ¹³C CP MAS NMR to follow the behavior of the organic structure directing agent, and in situ ¹H MAS NMR to unveil the effect of water content on crystallization kinetics. The in situ MAS NMR results lead to a better understanding of the formation of AlPO₄-11.

Past, present and future-sample environments for materials research studies in scattering and spectroscopy; a UK perspective

Small angle x-ray scattering and x-ray absorption fine structure are two techniques that have been employed at synchrotron sources ever since their inception. Over the course of the development of the techniques, the introduction of sample environments for added value experiments has grown dramatically. This article reviews past successes, current developments and an exploration of future possibilities for these two x-ray techniques with an emphasis on the developments in the United Kingdom between 1980-2020.

Time resolved in situ X-ray diffraction study of crystallisation processes of large pore nanoporous aluminophosphate materials

Time resolved high-resolution X-ray powder diffraction was utilized to obtain detailed changes in the crystal structure parameters during the hydrothermal crystallization process of the nanoporous aluminophosphate AlPO-5 (AFI) structure. This in situ study offered not only the influence of metal ions on the onset of crystallization and estimation of the activation energy of the process, but also allowed us to determine in detail the changes in lattice parameters during this process. More importantly the time-resolved study clearly showed the lattice expansion in the divalent metal ions substituted system right from the on-set of crystallization process, compared to the one without any dopant ions, which suggest that an amorphous or poorly crystalline network is formed prior to crystallization that contains the large divalent ions (compared to Al(iii), the substituting element), which is in agreement with the combined XAS/XRD study reported earlier. A mechanism based on this and the earlier study is suggested.

Adsorption of N/S heterocycles in the flexible metal-organic framework MIL-53(Fe(III)) studied by in situ energy dispersive X-ray diffraction

The adsorption of N/S-containing heterocyclic organic molecules in the flexible iron(III) terephthalate MIL-53, Fe(III)(OH)(0.6)F(0.4)(O2C-C6H4-CO2)·(H2O), from the liquid phase was studied with in situ energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD), in order to follow the adsorption-induced expansion of the structure. For comparison with the diffraction data, liquid phase adsorption isotherms were recorded for uptake of benzothiophene, benzothiazole and indole in isopropanol and in heptane. The solvent not only influences pore opening but is also a competing guest. The in situ EDXRD experiments allow the kinetics of guest uptake and the competition with solvent to be monitored directly. Indole uptake is limited; this adsorbate is barely capable of opening the closed, either hydrated or dehydrated, MIL-53(Fe) structure, or of penetrating the isopropanol-containing material in the concentration range under study. When isopropanol is used as a solvent, the guest molecules benzothiophene and benzothiazole must be present at a certain threshold concentration before substantial adsorption into the metal-organic framework takes place, eventually resulting in full opening of the structure. The fully expanded structures of benzothiophene or benzothiazole loaded MIL-53(Fe) materials have Imcm symmetry and a unit cell volume of ca. 1600 Å(3), and upon uptake of the guest molecules by the closed form (unit cell volume ~1000 Å(3)) no intermediate crystalline phases are seen. Successful uptake by MIL-53(Fe) requires that the adsorbate is primarily a good hydrogen bond acceptor; additionally, based on UV-visible spectroscopy, a charge-transfer interaction between the S atoms of benzothiophene and the aromatic rings in the MOF pore wall is proposed.

Siloxane and silsesquioxane molecules--precursors for silicate materials

Preparation of ceramics by sol-gel method has been known for many years, but recently it has been developed as a method for the synthesis of nanostructural ceramic materials. Hydrolytic polycondensation of simple molecules [e.g. most widely used tetraethoxysilane (TEOS)] leads to xerogel materials that can contain macromolecules of distinct random, ladder and cage or partial cage structure. In order to obtain well-defined silsesquioxanes it is preferred to start the process with more complex molecules, bringing in a specific framework that can govern the structure of the product. In the presented work alkoxy derivatives of cyclosiloxanes and polysiloxanes as well as a hydride derivative of octahedral silsequioxane (T(8)(H)) were applied as precursors in the process of hydrolytic polycondensation. Depending on the reaction conditions, silsesquioxane macromolecules or silica material of ordered structure were obtained. We have prepared mesoporous organiosilica materials without using any template or surfactant whatsoever. The meso-pores are created due to the unique structure of initial oligosiloxane or silsequioxane molecules and the specific interactions in the used catalyst/solvent system. In the case of octasilsesquioxane precursor, the condensation process gives directly mesoporous silica material. Dried polysilsesquioxanes were heated at the temperature of 600°C in argon or air atmosphere (pyrolysis or ceramization). In the atmosphere of argon SiC(x)O(y) glass materials were obtained.

In situ XAS and XRPD parametric rietveld refinement to understand dealumination of Y zeolite catalyst

Dealumination of NH(4)-Y zeolite during steaming to 873 K was investigated with in situ, time-dependent, synchrotron radiation XRPD and in situ Al K-edge XAS. Water desorption is complete at 450 K, and ammonium decomposition occurs between 500 and 550 K. Only a small fraction of Al(3+) species (5%) leaves the framework during heating from 710 to 873 K; these species occupy site I' inside the sodalite cage. This fraction increases up to 8% in the first 50 min at 873 K and remains constant for the following 70 min isotherm and during the high-temperature part of the cooling experiment. During cooling from 500 to 450 K, the electron density at site I' increases suddenly, corresponding to a fraction of 30-35% of the total Al, confirmed by ex situ (27)Al MAS solid-state NMR. At that temperature, in situ Al K-edge XAS indicates a change in Al coordination of a large fraction of Al, and thermogravimetric (TG) data show the first water molecules start to repopulate the pores. Such molecules drive the dislodgment of most of the Al from the zeolitic framework. Our data indicate that considerable structural collapse caused by steaming does not occur at the highest temperature; however, defects form, which lead to significant migration of framework Al(3+) to extraframework positions, which occurs only as water is able to enter the pores again, that is, at much lower temperature. Contrary to general opinion, these results demonstrate that zeolite dealumination is not primarily a high-temperature process. The standard Rietveld refinement approach failed to identify extraframework Al species. These new results were obtained by adopting the innovative parametric refinement [J. Appl. Crystallogr. 2007, 40, 87]. Treating all of the XRPD patterns collected during the evolution of temperature as one unique data set significantly reduces the overall number of optimized variables and, thus, their relative correlation, and finally results in a more reliable estimate of the optimized parameters. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the phenomena involved on the atomic scale in the preparation of ultrastable Y zeolites (USY). USY are employed in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), which is the most important conversion process in petroleum refineries to convert the high-boiling hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oils to more valuable products like gasoline and olefinic gases.