Mesostructured aluminosilicate material

Abstract

A mesostructured aluminosilicate material is described, constituted by at least two spherical elementary particles, each of said spherical particles being constituted by a matrix based on silicon oxide and aluminium oxide, having a pore size in the range 1.5 to 30 nm, a Si/Al molar ratio of at least 1, having amorphous walls with a thickness in the range 1 to 20 nm, said spherical elementary particles having a maximum diameter of 10 μm. A process for preparing said material and its application in the fields of refining and petrochemistry are also described.

1 . A mesostructured aluminosilicate material constituted by at least two spherical elementary particles, each of said spherical particles being constituted by a mesostructured matrix based on silicon oxide and aluminium oxide, having a pore size in the range 1.5 to 30 nm, a Si/Al molar ratio of at least 1, having amorphous walls with a thickness in the range 1 to 20 nm, said spherical elementary particles having a maximum diameter of 10 μm.  
     
     
         2 . A material according to  claim 1 , in which the Si/Al molar ratio is in the range 1 to 10.  
     
     
         3 . A material according to  claim 1 , in which the Si/Al molar ratio is in the range 1 to 5.  
     
     
         4 . A material according to  claim 1 , in which the pore size of said matrix is in the range 1.5 to 10 nm.  
     
     
         5 . A material according to  claim 1 , in which the diameter of said spherical elementary particles is in the range 50 to 300 nm.  
     
     
         6 . A material according to  claim 1 , having a specific surface area in the range 100 to 1200 m 2 /g.  
     
     
         7 . A material according to  claim 1 , having a specific surface area in the range 300 to 1000 m 2 /g.  
     
     
         8 . A material according to  claim 1 , in which said matrix based on silicon oxide and aluminium oxide has a hexagonal, vemmicular or cubic structure.  
     
     
         9 . A process for preparing a mesostructured aluminosilicate material according to  claim 1 , comprising a) mixing, in solution, at least one surfactant, at least one aluminic precursor and at least one silicic precursor; b) atomizing by aerosol the solution obtained in a) to produce spherical droplets with a diameter of less than 200 μm; c) drying said droplets and d) eliminating said surfactant to obtain a material with a mesostructured porosity.  
     
     
         10 . A process according to  claim 9 , in which the silicic precursor is an organometallic precursor with formula Si(OR) 4  in which R═H, methyl or ethyl.  
     
     
         11 . A process according to  claim 9 , in which the aluminic precursor is an inorganic aluminium salt with formula AlX 3 , X being a halogen or an NO 3  group.  
     
     
         12 . A process according to  claim 9 , in which the surfactant is an ionic surfactant selected from phoshonium and ammonium ions.  
     
     
         13 . A process according to  claim 9 , in which the surfactant is a non ionic surfactant in the form of a copolymer having at least two portions with differing polarities.  
     
     
         14 . A process according to  claim 13 , in which said block copolymer contains two, three or four blocks, each block being constituted by a poly(alkylene oxide) chain.  
     
     
         15 . A process according to  claim 14 , in which the non ionic surfactant is poly(ethylene oxide) 20 -poly(propylene oxide) 70 -poly(ethylene oxide) 20 .  
     
     
         16 . A process according to  claim 9 , in which said solution is a water-alcohol mixture.  
     
     
         17 . A process according to  claim 9 , in which said solution is acidic.  
     
     
         18 . An adsorbant comprising a mesostructured aluminosilicate material according to  claim 1 .  
     
     
         19 . A catalyst comprising a mesostructured aluminosilicate material according to  claim 1 .  
     
     
         20 . An adsorbant comprising a mesostructured aluminosilicate material prepared according to  claim 9 .  
     
     
         21 . A catalyst comprising a mesostructured aluminosilicate material prepared according to  claim 9.