STUDIES ON THE ACIDITY OF MORDENITE AND ZSM-5 .1. DETERMINATION OF BRONSTED ACID SITE CONCENTRATIONS IN MORDENITE AND ZSM-5 BY CONDUCTOMETRIC TITRATION

The Bronsted acidity of H-mordenite and H-ZSM-5 samples of varying proton concentration has been studied using aqueous conductometric titration, IR spectroscopy, and aqueous potentiometric titration. Good agreement is observed between Bronsted acid site concentrations determined by conductometric titration and IR measurements, while indirect potentiometric titration affords acid site concentrations consistently lower than those measured using the conductometric technique. This finding is rationalized on the basis that, in a conductometric titration, all the accessible Bronsted acid sites are directly titrated, whereas in the potentiometric procedure utilized, only those protons which can be ion-exchanged out of the zeolite are titrated. After allowing for the presence of extraframework aluminum in the zeolites (determined by Al-27 NMR), the measured acidity for H-mordenite is found to increase linearly with increasing Al content within the range 0-1.5 mmol Al/g but appears to reach a limiting value at higher Al concentrations. For H-ZSM-5, the experimentally determined number of Bronsted acid sites is also found to be linearly dependent on the Al molar fraction within the range measured (0-1.20 mmol Al/g). For both series of zeolite samples, the measured acidity is generally found to be less than the theoretical maximum calculated on the basis of an H+/Al ratio of 1.