Modification of Molecular Sieves USY and Their Application in the Alkylation Reaction of Benzene with Cyclohexene

In this manuscript, ultrastable Y (USY) zeolites are modified employing a liquid-phase ion exchange method to furnish H-USY with different properties. Modified with ammonium nitrate, H-USY could largely improve the conversion in the alkylation reaction of benzene with cyclohexene due to the increase in Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area, Barrett-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) pore volume, BJH pore size, and acidity of H-USY. Catalyzed by the molecular sieve modified twice with ammonium nitrate, this alkylation reaction demonstrated a 95.3 % conversion of cyclohexene with 97.4 % selectivity of cyclohexylbenzene. And we found that urea-modified USY has the similar effect, a 96.1 % conversion of cyclohexene with slightly 94.9 % selectivity of cyclohexylbenzene.