The Complex Crystal Structure and Abundant Local Defects of Zeolite EMM-17 Unraveled by Combined Electron Crystallography and Microscopy

Xiaona Liu, Lingmei Liu, Tingting Pan, Nana Yan, Xinglong Dong, Yuanhao Li, Lu Chen, Peng Tian, Yu Han, Peng Guo, Zhongmin Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Structure determination of zeolites is of great significance for understanding their fascinating properties. In this study, we successfully solve one of polymorphic structures (polymorph A) of zeolite EMM-17, which can only crystallize in sub-micron-sized crystals while containing complex stacking disorders, from the three-dimensional (3D) electron diffraction (ED) data. This is the first time that the atomic structure of this polymorph has been ab initio solved, and the result reveals a unique 10(12) X 10(12) X 11-ring channel system. Moreover, we acquire the first atomic-resolution images of EMM-17 using integrated differential phase-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy. The images allow us to directly observe polymorphs B and C and discover a large number of local structural defects. Based on structural features unraveled from the reciprocal-space 3D ED data and real-space images, we propose a series of energetically feasible local structures in EMM-17. In addition, we demonstrate that the unique porous structure of EMM-17 enables efficient kinetic separation of C6 alkane isomers.
Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalAngewandte Chemie International Edition
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Chemistry
  • Catalysis

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