ALUMINOPHOSPHATE SYNTHESIS

We have developed an automated parallel synthesis methodology that permits the rapid and detailed Investigation of hydrothermal systems. The general procedure is as follows automatic dispensing of reagents into autoclave blocks followed by synthesis, product isolation and automated structure analysis with X-ray diffractometry. Here we describe the application of this technique to the exploration of the aluminophosphate synthesis field. The effects of template, template concentration, A1 sources as well as mixed template systems are investigated. Emphasis is put on the study of cooperative structure direction effects. 

ZeoUte and aluminophosphate synthesis is already highly developed to produce materials with desired properties such as catalytic activity, good adsorption or ion exchange behavior, optical transparency or satisfactory guest incorporation. Although microporous lattices of zeoHte systems are powerful tools for shape... 

The same periodic structures can also be formed from alternating AIO4 and PO4 tetrahedra the resulting aluminophosphates are not called zeolites but AlPOs. Zeolites are made by hydrothermal synthesis under pressure in autoclaves, in the presence of template molecules such as tetramethylammonium, which act as structure directing agents. 

Aza macrocycles have also been used as templating agents in the formation of zinc and other metal cation-containing aluminophosphates via hydrothermal synthesis.705 The zeolite-like structures have been formed in the presence of cyclam- and hexaaza-based macrocycles. 

In 1982, Union Carbide reported the synthesis of the first phosphate-based molecular sieves (95, 96). This finding would include aluminophosphates (A1P04) and gallophosphates (GaP04) as well as silicoaluminum phosphates (SAPO) and metalloaluminum phosphates [MAPO, M = first-row transition metal (TM)]. The... 

Similarly, reactive oxide mixtures are also used to synthesize aluminophosphate molecular sieves, usually starting from phosphoric acid along with the addition of alumina and silica sources analogous to those used in zeolite synthesis with a notable exception alkylammonium salts and amines were ultilized in structure-direchng and space filling to the exclusion of alkali hydroxide solutions and alkali metal salts. 

There is limited patent literature available on manufacturing techniques for aluminophosphates. Although many patents describe AlPO synthesis, most described examples are small-scale preparations. The fact that at least two catalytic applications have been commercialized for SAPO molecular sieves indicates that they have been scaled-up to large quantities [55, 56]. A large-scale preparation of SAPO-34 is described in a recent patent [57]. 

The synthesis of aluminophosphates has been achvely studied for almost 30 years, and an extensive open and patent literature has developed during that time. However, most of the manufacturing information is likely stiU trade secret to the companies who have been involved. 

Heat-up rate effects have been investigated with respect to microwave synthesis of AlPO phases, however there are few publications concerning the heat-up effects in conventional heating [58]. There has also been at least one study of pH and H2O level on aluminophosphate crystallization [59]. A recent paper attempts to study the unique crystallization process of several aluminophosphate molecular sieve compositions [60]. 

Recently, we also focused attention on the synthesis of aluminoarsenates and galloarsenates with open framework structures (refs. 12—14). While the aluminophosphates are labeled as AlPO s, the gallophosphates, aluminoarsenates and galloarsenates can be designated as AlPO s, AlAsO s and GaAsO s respectively. 

Since the synthesis of aluminophosphate (AIPO4) molecular sieves (Wilson et al 1982), other novel catalyst materials have been developed by the... 

Antonelli and co-workers have recently demonstrated that room temperature stoichiometric ammonia synthesis is possible with their mesoporous titanium and niobium oxide catalysts. In this study, they proposed that the ammonia species are formed via the reaction activated nitrogen with the underlying moisture of the support. Reversible, inter-conversion of and NH2 species via exposure to moist air for aluminophosphate oxynitride catalysts has been observed by FTIR and XPS by Marquez and co-workers. There has been a lot of interest in the literature in the development of novel routes for the low temperature stoichiometric conversion of nitrogen to ammonia, e.g.. However, in principle this could be realised by the nitridation of Li, followed by hydrolysis, although the kinetics would be very slow. 

Besides the conventional zeolites, several novel zeolite analogues such as the ALPOs (aluminophosphates), MeALPOs (divalent-metal (Me) substituted aluminophos-phates), SAPOs (silicon substituted aluminophosphates) and so on have been synthesized (Davis Lobo, 1992). Wilson et al. (1982) first reported the synthesis of microporous ALPOs. ALPO synthesis differs from zeolite synthesis in that it involves acidic or mildly basic conditions and no alkali metal ions. Some members in the ALPO... 

Synthesis of transition metal containing molecular sieves (microporous as well as mesoporous) is one of the fastest developing areas in molecular sieve science, as evidenced by recent published reviews [1,2] Several transition metals have been substituted into crystalline silica or aluminophosphate frameworks to yield the corresponding metallosilicate or metalloaluminophosphate molecular sieves, However, the location of the metal species and their state always remain uncertain, despite the employment of numerous different characterization methods comprising IR, NMR and ESR spectroscopy. 

Over the last years the utilisation of supramolecular arrays of surfactant molecules as structure-directing templates [1] has been applied to the synthesis of numerous mesostructured aluminophosphates [2-11]. In most cases the preparations were carried out in aqueous systems under hydrothermal conditions, but tetraethylene glycol and/or unbranched primary alcohols were also used [2,4]. Several discussions have been made on the reaction mechanisms that are involved in the syntheses of mesostructured materials [1,12-15] and recently a number of in-situ investigations on the formation processes of mesostructured silica phases in aqueous media have been reported these studies employed small angle X-ray diffraction [16-19] as well as 2H, 13C, 29Si, and 8lBr NMR spectroscopy and polarised light optical microscopy [17]. 

In conclusion, the synthesis of mesostructured aluminophosphate / surfactant materials in alcoholic systems yields a mixture of an inverse hexagonal and a lamellar phase, the latter of which is more stable, as its formation is relatively favoured by higher temperatures and/or longer reaction times. The synthesis is highly cooperative the surfactant / alcohol systems without the inorganic species do not show any lyotropic behaviour. 

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