SAPO-34 is highly selective and hydrothermally
stable for MTO reactions
but it is rapidly deactivated by the formation of coke through its
micropores. The promising SAPO-34/ZSM-5 nanocomposite catalyst with
a different ratio was synthesized by the ultrasonic-assisted hydrothermal
method and it obtained products that were characterized to further
investigate their catalytic performance. Utilization of the ultrasound
method led to a faster synthesis time, a decrease of crystallite size,
an increase of surface area, and a dominant mesopore structure. The
physicochemical properties of the product were extensively investigated
by XRD, FESEM, TEM, FT-IR, N2 adsorption–desorption
techniques, and NH3-TPD. Results indicate that the composite
had high conversion and selectivity compared to that of the original
ZSM-5 and SAPO-34. When composite structures due to the synergic effect
between ZSM-5 and SAPO-34 acted as promoted catalysts, they improved
catalytic properties of composite catalysts. Moreover, the SAPO-34/ZSM-5
nanocomposite catalyst with 50% ratio synthesized by the ultrasonic-assisted
hydrothermal method (U–S/Z (50%)) showed 100% conversion and
90% selectivity to light olefin at 450 °C.