This project was a collaboration with Eli Ruckenstein to investigate synergies that resulted when amorphous silica-aluminas were combined with zeolites. These acid materials catalyze a variety of hydrocarbon transformations. They also tend to deactivate under reaction conditions. When composites were synthesized, it was found that, among other things, the type of coke that formed was different than that on the individual components.

“The Synthesis and Cracking Behavior of Zeolite-Amorphous Silica-Alumina Composites Prepared Using Gels with High Alumina and Low Organic Template Content,” P. Yarlagadda, C. R. F. Lund, and E. Ruckenstein, J. Catal. 133, 28 (1992). [more info]

“Different Activities and Selectivities of Silica-Alumina Catalysts Synthesized in Aqueous and Alcohol Solvents,” P. Yarlagadda, C. R. F. Lund, and E. Ruckenstein, J. Catal. 125, 421 (1990). [more info]

“Oligomerization of Ethene and Propene over Composite Zeolite Catalysts,” P. Yarlagadda, C. R. F. Lund, and E. Ruckenstein, Appl. Catal. 62, 125 (1990). [more info]

“Conversion of Methanol to Hydrocarbons over Silica-Alumina: Selective Formation of Lower Olefins,” P. Yarlagadda, C. R. F. Lund and E. Ruckenstein, Appl. Catal. 54, 139 (1989). [more info]

“Composite Catalysts of ZSM-5 and Amorphous Silica-Alumina,” Annual AIChE Meeting, Los Angeles, November 1991.

“Activity and Coking Studies of High Silica Zeolites in Oxygenate and Hydrocarbon Conversion Reactions,” Annual AIChE Meeting, San Francisco, November, 1989.

Mark Schiek, “Activity, Coking, and Acidity of Amorphous Silica-Alumina, ZSM-5 Zeolite, and Their Composite,” PhD Dissertation, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Dept. of Chemical Engineering (1996). [more info]