Experimental Investigation of Facile and Template-Free Synthesis of Zeolite Y for the Alkylation of Benzene

Herein, the synthesis parameters are investigated to suggest the optimal procedure for the template-free synthesis of zeolite Y using inexpensive sources. Different synthesis parameters including aging time (0-8 days), crystallization time (1-3 days), crystallization temperature (90 and 100 °C) and Si/Al molar ratio in initial gel (4.65 and 6.00) are studied for the preparation of zeolite Y. The microporous structured zeolite Y crystals exhibited outstanding textural properties for template-free samples (pore volume = 0.303 cm3.g−1 and BET surface area = 624 m2.g−1), comparable to the expensive template-based zeolites. Finally, different synthesized and ion-exchanged samples along with the impregnated zeolites with Ni, Cu, F and heteropoly acid active sites are studied in the alkylation of benzene with 1-decene at 100 °C and 10 bar. The attained catalysts revealed significant activity and selectivity for the production of linear alkylbenzenes. The highest 1-decene conversion and selectivity of about 83 and 37.5 %, respectively was attained for HY catalyst.