An innovative mechanism of creating H1 and H3 pore types in AlSiO₄ and its catalytic application to convert waste plastic into aviation fuel

ABSTRACT

FeAlSiO₄ -H3 and ZnAlSiO₄-H1 are synthesized through the facile method without an autoclave. Tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) is a structure-directing agent. FT-IR, XRD, BET, TPD, TGA, and TEM confirmed the framework, crystallinity, porosity, acidity, thermal stability (above 600°C), and surface morphology respectively. BET analysis revealed that two distinct pore widths (FeAlSiO₄-H3: 13.79 nm, ZnAlSiO₄-H1: 11.65 nm) are based on the metal ion substitution The acidity (FeAlSiO₄ -H3:6.576 and ZnAlSiO₄-H1:13.836 cm³/g STP). In ZnAlSiO₄ – H1, 7 template molecules form a linear complex with 6 Zn²⁺ions which is oriented vertically to create cylindrical pores. In FeAlSiO₄-H3, 8 template molecules are formed a linear complex with 7 Fe²⁺ which is positioned in a cross-sectional way to produce slit pores. The catalytic cracking of polypropylene has been carried out over FeAlSiO₄ and ZnAlSiO₄ and observed that the conversion is 100%. H3 type pore has produced higher selectivity of jet fuel (90%) than the H1 type pore (86%) at 0.5 g catalyst dosage. In addition to that, H3 type has produced diesel (3.8%) and H1 type has produced petrol (10.1%) as a minor product. The synthesized aviation fuels are equivalent to JET A-1 fuel and are characterized by FT-IR, HPLC, and GC-MS.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Waste plastic
• H3 and H1 pore type
• metal ion-TEPA orientation
• pore mechanism
• hydrocarbon

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15567036.2023.2275711

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Senthurselvi S

Senthurselvi S, a Research scholar in the Department of Chemistry at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli. Her main area of study is the green catalytic process for turning waste plastic into aviation fuel. In National and International conferences, she has participated and delivered more than 10 papers, and won one award for best poster. Two research papers were published in her work.

Chellapandian Kannan

Chellapandian Kannan presently works as a professor and chair of the School of Physical Sciences at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tirunelveli. His teaching and research career spans over 22 years. His areas of expertise include environmental science, green catalysis, and nanoporous solid acid production. He has published over 85 research articles in reputale publications. Two patents were granted and one book was published. Under his guidance 12 Ph. D were awarded.