No abstract

The influence of the morphology (microcrystals, nanocrystals, nanosponges and nanosheets) of MFI and *BEA-type zeolites on their adsorption capacities and adsorption rate of n-hexane at 25 ˚C has been investigated. The capacity of n-hexane adsorption sensitive to micro-and mesopore volume is enhanced by the use of zeolite nanocrystals or hierarchical nanoporous materials (nanosheets and nanosponges). In the case of hierarchical zeolites MFI and *BEA nanosponges, the n-hexane adsorption capacities reached values of about 790 and 693 mg/g, respectively, that are much higher than those in the corresponding microcrystals (130 and 103 mg/g, respectively). On the opposite the kinetics of nhexane adsorption are slower in nanocrystals and hierarchical zeolites compared to big crystals, due to the lower crystallinity of the zeolitic material and the nature of the probe molecule.