Spectroscopic insights on atomic level organization of zeolites

by Dr., Eddy Dib

May 14, 2025 ( 14:00 )

Lecture hall CH3, Faculty of Science, Hlavova 8, Praha 2

Add to Calendar 05/14/2025 14:00 Europe/Prague Spectroscopic insights on atomic level organization of zeolites

Zeolites catalysts and adsorbents find their key-roles in the chemical industry by favoring desired reaction pathways. The increase of efficiency of chemical processes thanks to zeolites render them very attractive in addressing circular economy needs. In this line, the zeolite family offered indispensable catalysts and adsorbents for several key-reactions and it continues to show remarkable properties in new sustainable processes. This is due to their high thermal stability arising from their crystallinity, tunable chemical composition, acidity, and shape selectivity linked to their uniform porous networks.

It is tempting to view zeolites as perfectly crystalline porous materials, however, such view of long-range order is unable to give insights on their atomic level ordering; the latter are often complex features which are still difficult to characterize as they include acid sites, hydroxyl groups, and metallic species. Thus, beyond the intimate structure-spectroscopy relationships, the structure-property relationship is far from trivial and many questions are still open on e.g. acidity and sorption properties of zeolites. Thus, atomic scale spectroscopic characterization and modelling are required for a further understanding of zeolites and the improvement of their performance.

In this presentation, we will explore the insights derived from the combination of experimental and theoretical spectroscopic approaches, mainly NMR, and their potential in understanding the complexity of the atomic organization of zeolites e.g. localization of acid sites and silanol groups and the role of organic templates. The impact of the structural and dynamical information derived from these approaches on the understanding of catalysis and adsorption properties will be shown as well.

 Lecture hall CH3, Faculty of Science, Hlavova 8, Praha 2

Zeolites catalysts and adsorbents find their key-roles in the chemical industry by favoring desired reaction pathways. The increase of efficiency of chemical processes thanks to zeolites render them very attractive in addressing circular economy needs. In this line, the zeolite family offered indispensable catalysts and adsorbents for several key-reactions and it continues to show remarkable properties in new sustainable processes. This is due to their high thermal stability arising from their crystallinity, tunable chemical composition, acidity, and shape selectivity linked to their uniform porous networks.

It is tempting to view zeolites as perfectly crystalline porous materials, however, such view of long-range order is unable to give insights on their atomic level ordering; the latter are often complex features which are still difficult to characterize as they include acid sites, hydroxyl groups, and metallic species. Thus, beyond the intimate structure-spectroscopy relationships, the structure-property relationship is far from trivial and many questions are still open on e.g. acidity and sorption properties of zeolites. Thus, atomic scale spectroscopic characterization and modelling are required for a further understanding of zeolites and the improvement of their performance.

In this presentation, we will explore the insights derived from the combination of experimental and theoretical spectroscopic approaches, mainly NMR, and their potential in understanding the complexity of the atomic organization of zeolites e.g. localization of acid sites and silanol groups and the role of organic templates. The impact of the structural and dynamical information derived from these approaches on the understanding of catalysis and adsorption properties will be shown as well.