Microporous
SAPO-34 molecular sieves were hydrothermally synthesized with microwave irradiation in the presence of
tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) as a template.
SAPO-34 molecular sieves with mesoporosity were also prepared in the presence of
carbon black as a hard template. By increasing the content of the
carbon black template in the synthesis, the mesopore volume increased.
Dehydration of
alcohols (
butanols and
ethanol) was carried out with the synthesized
SAPO-34 molecular sieves, and the lifetime of the catalysts for the
dehydration reaction increased as the mesoporosity increased. Moreover, the performance of the microporous catalyst synthesized with microwave was better than that of the catalyst obtained with conventional electric heating. The relative performance of the catalytic
dehydration may be explained by the mesoporosity and the crystal size. Therefore, it may be concluded that small-sized
SAPO-34 molecular sieves with high mesoporosity can be produced efficiently with microwave irradiation in the presence of
carbon black template, and the molecular sieves are effective in the stable
dehydration of
alcohols.