A facile organosilane-based strategy for direct synthesis of thin MWW-type titanosilicate with high catalytic oxidation performance

Abstract

Although numerous strategies have been developed to improve the diffusion and catalytic activity of MWW-type titanosilicate (Ti-MWW zeolite) in oxidation of bulky molecules, preparation of Ti-MWW zeolite with high external specific surface area (SSA) by a simple and efficient method is still highly required. Herein, a facile organosilane-based synthetic strategy was successfully developed to prepare thin Ti-MWW zeolite with a thickness of 15 ± 5 nm and an external SSA as high as about 210 m² g⁻¹. Moreover, based on the structural characterization, the synthesis mechanism of the thin Ti-MWW zeolite was discussed in detail. Importantly, due to more framework TiO₄ species and their better accessibility, the obtained thin MWW-type titanosilicate showed superior catalytic performance in epoxidation of bulky olefins than conventional Ti-MWW zeolite. It is believed that this facile organosilane-based synthetic strategy can be used in the development of other highly efficient layered zeolite catalysts.