Integrated Laser and Electron Microscopy Correlates Structure of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Particles to Brønsted Acidity

Cracking the crackers: Integrated laser and electron microscopy was applied to study individual fluid catalytic cracking catalyst particles (see picture) deactivated according to an industrially relevant protocol. New insights have been obtained by correlating Brønsted acidity changes, visualized using fluorescence microscopy, with structural transformations in the zeolite and matrix components, as observed with electron microscopy.