NMR study of the distribution of aromatic molecules in NaY zeolite

Local and macroscopic distributions of adsorbed benzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, and hexamethylbenzene (HMB) molecules among the intracrystalline cavities of NaY zeolite samples have been investigated by {sup 129}Xe and multiple-quantum NMR. Xenon-129 NMR, a sensitive probe of macroscopic distributions of molecules in zeolites at room temperature, demonstrates the importance of sample heat treatment in distributing an adsorbate homogeneously throughout a collection of zeolite particles. NaY samples containing organic guests adsorbed at temperatures near the bulk species melting point produce multiple or broad xenon lines characteristic of macroscopic (i.e., interparticle) adsorbate concentration gradients. After thorough heat treatment of the samples at elevated temperatures, the xenon spectrum collapses to a single sharp line, consistent with a macroscopically uniform distribution. For HMB adsorbed in NaY, counting hydrogen clusters by multiple-quantum NMR reveals intraparticle HMB distributions consistent with one molecular per cavity at low loadings (average bulk loading {le} 1 molecule per cavity) and two molecules per cavity at higher loadings.