Amorphous microporous molecular sieves with different pore dimensions and topologies: Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity

A new family of silica based amorphous microporous molecular sieve materials with different pore topologies has been synthesized by self-assembling of organic structure directing agents (OSDA) and silica. The regular pore dimensions and micropore volume of these materials can be fine tuned by means of the OSDA, and they are thermally and hydrothermally stable upon calcination. While being amorphous to XRD, IR spectroscopy and electron diffraction, they present pore dimensions and topologies very close to zeolites, and behave as shape selective catalysts. These materials can be considered as zeolite precursors (ZP) during the synthesis of zeolites.