Hierarchical Pore Engineering of Zeolite Honeycomb Monoliths via a Composite Pore-forming Strategy for Enhanced Adsorption Performance and Mechanical Stability

Abstract

The pore architecture of zeolite honeycomb monoliths critically governs the balance between mechanical strength and mass transfer performance. However, tailoring pore structure remains challenging because increased porosity often compromises structural integrity. Herein, we develop a composite pore-forming strategy using potato starch, rice starch, and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), which provides a graded particle size distribution and complementary morphologies. Hierarchically porous NaY zeolite honeycomb monoliths were fabricated via extrusion, drying, and calcination. Thermal decomposition of the pore-forming agents generated an interconnected micro-mesomacroporous pore network. Increasing the potato starch content progressively promoted the formation of larger interconnected pores and improved pore connectivity. The compressive strength of the porous monoliths (15% failure probability) ranged from 3.05 MPa to 3.34 MPa. Notably, the optimized composition (potato starch:PMMA=3:7, mass ratio) showed only a 9.5% reduction in strength, while the porosity increased significantly from 23.4% to 55.4%. Consequently, the N-methylpyrrolidone breakthrough time and adsorption capacity increased from 231.4 min to 391.6 min and from 17.49 mg/g to 103.4 mg/g, respectively. Pilot-scale tests further demonstrated a 5.47-fold enhancement in adsorption capacity with 95% retention. This work establishes a clear structure-property relationship and provides a scalable strategy for optimizing mass transfer in zeolite monoliths without compromising mechanical reliability.

Keywords

Zeolite honeycomb / Pore-forming agent / Multi-porous pore structure / Extrusion / Mechanical strength

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