PhD fellow in Rational synthesis of zeolitic materials and their characterization by advanced electron microscopy methods
Project supervisor: Michal Mazur
Project summary
Zeolites are among the most useful materials in catalysis, sorption and ion-exchange. It is due to their properties i.e. high adsorption capacity, defined microporosity (resulting in molecular sieving effect), adjustable chemical composition, and possibility for post-synthesis modifications. Conventional synthesis of zeolites is performed by solvothermal methods that are limited in term of control and design of the process. On the other hand, recently developed ADOR synthesis approach (Assembly, Disassembly, Organization, Reassembly) utilizing the 2 dimensional (2D) layered zeolite precursors gives the possibility to design the final product and prepare different type of porous materials by post-synthesis manipulations. The rational design of novel zeolitic materials and their characterization by advanced electron microscopy methods are general aims of proposed PhD thesis. The synthesized materials will be investigated for their potential use e.g. in catalysis, especially for acid-catalysed reactions. The PhD work will include: 1) the application of established synthetic techniques (e.g. solvothermal synthesis, ADOR approach, swelling, pillaring, and functionalization, 2) development of novel synthesis strategies, and 3) characterization of synthesized material by electron microscopy and diffraction methods (including novel techniques like Rotation Electron Diffraction (RED). The PhD work should result in preparation of new zeolitic materials and their better understanding by use of advanced characterization techniques.
Five relevant publications of the research group
Wieslaw J. Roth, Petr Nachtigall, Russell E. Morriss, Paul S. Wheatley, Valerie Seymour, Sharon E. Ashbrook, Pavla Chlubná, Lukáš Grajciar, Miroslav Položij, Zrnošt Zukal, Oleksiy Shvets, Jiří Čejka, "A family of complex zeolites with controlled pore size prepared through a 'top down'method", Nature Chemistry, 5 (2013) 628.
Pavla Eliášová, Maksym Opanasenko, Paul Wheatley, Mariya Shamzhy, Michal Mazur, Petr Nachtigall, Wieslaw J. Roth, Russell E. Morris, Jiří Čejka, “The ADOR mechanism for the synthesis of new zeolites”, Chemistry Society Reviews, 44 (2015) 7177.
M. Mazur, P. S. Wheatley, M. Navarro, W. R. Roth, M. Polozij, A. Mayoral, P. Eliasova, P. Nachtigall, J. Cejka, R. E. Morris, “Synthesis of ‘unfeasible’zeolites”, Nature Chemistry, 8 (2016) 58-62.
M. Mazur, V. Kasneryk, J. Přech, F. Brivio, C. Ochoa-Hernández, A. Mayoral, M. Kubů and J. Čejka, “Zeolite framework functionalisation by tuneable incorporation of various metals into the IPC-2 zeolite”, Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, 2018, 5, 2746-2755.
S. E. Henkelis, S. A. Morris, M. Mazur, P. S. Wheatley, L. N. McHugh and R. E. Morris, “Monitoring the assembly–disassembly–organisation–reassembly process of germanosilicate UTL through in situ pair distribution function analysis”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2018, 6, 17011-17018.
Current research grants of the group
EXPRO GAČR (19-27551X)
