Ethanol–based in situ synthesis of organic–inorganic hierarchical ZSM–5 for efficient capture of toluene under humidity environment

The synthesis and application of zeolite molecular sieves would benefit from environmentally friendly, gentler and more stable synthesis routes as well as simpler and more efficient surface functionalization methods. Herein, we demonstrate a novel strategy for the synthesis hierarchical ZSM–5 molecular sieves with micropores and mesoporous pores using ethanol instead of an organic template agent. Further, we found that by adding organosilane to the alcohol–water synthesis process, the crystallization of ZSM–5 organic–inorganic hierarchical molecular sieve and the in–situ grafting of –CH3 groups on its surface can be achieved at the same time, thus improving the surface hydrophobic property of the molecular sieve. This is mainly due to the fact that the often–neglected solvent properties of ethanol can provide an environmental basis for the introduction of functional components for in–situ synthesis. Compared with conventional ZSM–5 microcrystals, benefiting from the unique hierarchical porosities and surface hydrophobic properties, the as–prepared organic–inorganic hierarchical ZSM–5 exhibit remarkably adsorption of toluene at low and medium temperature under humidity environment. The synthesis strategy effectively avoids the use of traditional template agent and reduces the complexity of preparation, and further reduces the damage to the material skeleton through functional post–treatment method and retains the hierarchical structure of ZSM–5.