High selectivity for n-dodecane hydroisomerization over highly siliceous ZSM-22 with low Pt loading

Highly siliceous ZSM-22 was synthesized under hydrothermal conditions with ZSM-22 seeds. Characterization by FT-IR and 1H and 29Si NMR spectroscopy confirms that due to the existence of defective sites in the siliceous ZSM-22, acidic silanol groups including vicinal silanol and silanol nests are detected. Acidic silanol groups are considered as the acid sites of siliceous ZSM-22. As a result, siliceous ZSM-22 shows much lower acid site density and lower acid strength than silica–alumina ZSM-22 which contains hydroxyl groups bridging Si and Al as acid sites. In n-dodecane isomerization, Pt/siliceous ZSM-22 shows much higher isomer selectivity than Pt/silica–alumina ZSM-22. Furthermore, a lower loading amount of Pt on siliceous ZSM-22 (about 0.2 wt% Pt) can lead to high isomer selectivity. Owing to the acidic silanol groups and the low acid site density of siliceous ZSM-22, a good balance between metal and acid function in Pt/siliceous ZSM-22 is achieved, which results in a lower allowable Pt loading value and higher isomer selectivity.