Synthesis of nanosized MFI zeolites using Cu-containing complexes

Nanosized MFI type zeolites were synthesized in the presence of Cu-containing complexes. The use of ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a ligand promoted the solubility and guaranteed the exclusive configuration of the copper-bearing chelate in the precursor solutions. The EDTA-assisted MFI zeolite nanocrystals (Cu-MFI-EDTA) was found to contain low amount of silanols due to formation of flexible Si–O–Cu bonds. On the contrary, when ammonia (NH3) was used as a ligand, the copper species in the corresponding sample (Cu-MFI-NH3) only present in the form of extra framework [Cuδ+···Oδ−···Cuδ+]n clusters. The introduction of transition metals assisted by ligands permitted the preparation of nanocrystals with variable amount of silanols and modified water affinity.