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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Reyes Mallada

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Zaragoza, Edif. I+D, Campus Río Ebro, Despacho: 7.2.09, C/ Mariano Esquillor s/n, 50018-Zaragoza, Spain
Interests: synthesis inorganic porous materials; zeolite layers; zeolite membranes; mesoporous M41S; microwave heating; microreactors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Zeolites are microporous materials that possess molecular sieving and selective adsorption properties, the preparation of a zeolite membrane opens up the possibility of working in a continuous process, furthermore a zeolite film would be desirable in several applications such as structured reactors or sensors.Since the first synthesis of a zeolite membrane in 1986, many milestones have been achieved. The preparation of a “defect free” zeolite layer, for gas separation, was the first and is still a matter of study. The control of the orientation of the zeolite crystals was accomplished by secondary growth and the use of organic structure-directing agents. An important success was accomplished in 2001 when the first industrial application of zeolites was introduced, the pervaporation of water/alcohol mixtures. Concerning applications, apart from gas separation and pervaporation, membrane reactors have also been an attractive research topic.

The most studied zeolite membranes are indeed the MFI and LTA frameworks; however there is still a research effort for other zeotypes and new materials related such as titanosilicates, aluminophosphates or recently the microporous metal organic frameworks.

In the last five years many efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of hybrid or mixed matrix membranes. The assembly of nanozeolite building blocks and nanosheets is also the starting point, for the synthesis of thin defect free zeolite membranes. The ultrafast synthesis of zeolites in microwave has contributed to prevent the dissolution of the support. These new synthesis methods and new materials will be covered in this special issue.

Considering the difficulty to prepare high areas of defect free zeolite membranes, innovative applications that include zeolite films or small scale applications such as microreactors, micromembranes, sensors, films for controlled permeation or coatings are being explored in the last few years.

Dr. Reyes Mallada
Guest Editor

Keywords

zeolite membrane
zeolite films
mixed matrix membranes
hybrid membranes
porous tailored materials
membrane reactor
gas separation
pervaporation
microreactor
sensors

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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575 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Alkylation of Benzene with Propylene in a Flow-Through Membrane Reactor and Fixed-Bed Reactor: Preliminary Results

by Miguel Torres-Rodríguez, Mirella Gutiérrez-Arzaluz, Violeta Mugica-Álvarez, Julia Aguilar-Pliego and Sibele Pergher

Materials 2012, 5(5), 872-881; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma5050872 - 18 May 2012

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 7809

Abstract

Benzene alkylation with propylene was studied in the gas phase using a catalytic membrane reactor and a fixed-bed reactor in the temperature range of 200–300 °C and with a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 51 h⁻¹. β-zeolite was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using silica, aluminum metal and TEAOH as precursors. The membrane’s XRD patterns showed good crystallinity for the β-zeolite film, while scanning electron microscopy SEM results indicated that its random polycrystalline film was approximately 1 μm thick. The powders’ specific area was determined to be 400 m²×g⁻¹ by N₂ adsorption/desorption, and the TPD results indicated an overall acidity of 3.4 mmol NH₃×g⁻¹. Relative to the powdered catalyst, the catalytic membrane showed good activity and product selectivity for cumene. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zeolite Membranes: Novel Synthesis and Innovative Applications)

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Review

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949 KiB

Open AccessReview

Potential Applications of Zeolite Membranes in Reaction Coupling Separation Processes

by Michael O. Daramola, Elizabeth F. Aransiola and Tunde V. Ojumu

Materials 2012, 5(11), 2101-2136; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma5112101 - 30 Oct 2012

Cited by 51 | Viewed by 10654 | Correction

Abstract

Future production of chemicals (e.g., fine and specialty chemicals) in industry is faced with the challenge of limited material and energy resources. However, process intensification might play a significant role in alleviating this problem. A vision of process intensification through multifunctional reactors has stimulated research on membrane-based reactive separation processes, in which membrane separation and catalytic reaction occur simultaneously in one unit. These processes are rather attractive applications because they are potentially compact, less capital intensive, and have lower processing costs than traditional processes. Therefore this review discusses the progress and potential applications that have occurred in the field of zeolite membrane reactors during the last few years. The aim of this article is to update researchers in the field of process intensification and also provoke their thoughts on further research efforts to explore and exploit the potential applications of zeolite membrane reactors in industry. Further evaluation of this technology for industrial acceptability is essential in this regard. Therefore, studies such as techno-economical feasibility, optimization and scale-up are of the utmost importance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zeolite Membranes: Novel Synthesis and Innovative Applications)

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