Abstract: The effects of the thermal decomposition of tetraethylammonium (template) by microwave on the surface acidity and structure of zeolite β are studied by TPDE,TPD and XRD. Results show that (1) the most part of template is eliminated after zeolite β has been irradiated for 40 minutes by microwave, (2) the surface acid amount evidently increases and β has three types of acidic sites which are of different strength, and (3) the strength of strong acid sites remarkly decreases compared with the traditional method. In addition, the method to remove the template can successfully maintain the crystallinity of zeolite β.

Key words: microwave, surface acidity, crystallinity, zeolite β, de-amine