title: Structure and catalytic properties of the most complex intergrown zeolite ITQ-39 determined by electron crystallography.
abstract: Porous materials such as zeolites contain well-defined pores in molecular dimensions and have important industrial applications in catalysis, sorption and separation. Aluminosilicates with intersecting 10- and 12-ring channels are particularly interesting as selective catalysts. Many porous materials, especially zeolites, form only nanosized powders and some are intergrowths of different structures, making structure determination very challenging. Here, we report the atomic structures of an aluminosilicate zeolite family, ITQ-39, solved from nanocrystals only a few unit cells in size by electron crystallography. ITQ-39 is an intergrowth of three different polymorphs, built from the same layer but with different stacking sequences. ITQ-39 contains stacking faults and twinning with nano-sized domains, being the most complex zeolite ever solved. The unique structure of ITQ-39, with a three-dimensional intersecting pairwise 12-ring and 10-ring pore system, makes it a promising catalyst for converting naphtha into diesel fuel, a process of emerging interest for the petrochemical industry.
authors.affiliation: Berzelii Centre EXSELENT on Porous Materials, and Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Willhammar
authors.forename: Junliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oleynikov
authors.forename: Daliang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moliner
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rey
authors.forename: Avelino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corma