The physicochemical properties of micro/mesoporous materials prepared by the recrystallization of zeolite BEA

Micro-mesoporous materials with various ratios between micro- and mesopores were prepared by the recrystallization of zeolite BEA in an alkaline medium in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. The materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption, and IR spectroscopy. Recrystallization under mild conditions did not cause substantial changes in the number of acid centers but increased the accessibility of acid centers to large-sized molecules because of the creation of mesopores. An increase in the degree of recrystallization caused first partial and then complete zeolite transformation into MSM-41 mesoporous aluminosilicate, which was accompanied by a decrease in the number of acid centers. The IR spectra were used to determine the diffusion coefficients of cumene in the initial and recrystallized samples. Recrystallization increased the diffusion coefficient by 3–4 times.