3D Nanoscale Chemical Imaging of the Distribution of Aluminum Coordination Environments in Zeolites with Soft X-Ray Microscopy

Abstract

Here, we present the first nanoscale chemical imaging study revealing the spatial distribution of the amount and coordination environment of aluminum in zeolite materials with 3D scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM). For this purpose, we have focused on two showcase samples involving the industrially relevant zeolite H-ZSM-5. The first one is a calcined H-ZSM-5 commercial zeolite powder, labeled as ZSM-5-C. The second material with sample name ZSM-5-S has been obtained by steaming ZSM-5-C at 7008C for 3 h. Further details on the preparation and physicochemical properties of both materials can be found in the Supporting Information of a recent article.