Zeolites with continuously tuneable porosity

Abstract

Zeolites are important materials whose utility in industry depends on the nature of their porous structure. Control over microporosity is therefore a vitally important target. Unfortunately, traditional methods for controlling porosity, in particular the use of organic structure-directing agents, are relatively coarse and provide almost no opportunity to tune the porosity as required. Here we show how zeolites with a continuously tuneable surface area and micropore volume over a wide range can be prepared. This means that a particular surface area or micropore volume can be precisely tuned. The range of porosity we can target covers the whole range of useful zeolite porosity: from small pores consisting of 8-rings all the way to extra-large pores consisting of 14-rings.