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X‐ray Excited Optical Fluorescence and Diffraction Imaging of Reactivity and Crystallinity in a Zeolite Crystal: Crystallography and Molecular Spectroscopy in One
Author(s) -
Ristanović Zoran,
Hofmann Jan P.,
Richard MarieIngrid,
Jiang Tao,
Chahine Gilbert A.,
Schülli Tobias U.,
Meirer Florian,
Weckhuysen Bert M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201601796
Subject(s) - crystallinity , reactivity (psychology) , zeolite , crystallography , molecule , crystal structure , fluorescence , x ray crystallography , crystal (programming language) , materials science , chemistry , excited state , spectroscopy , diffraction , catalysis , organic chemistry , optics , medicine , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics , computer science , nuclear physics , programming language
Abstract Structure–activity relationships in heterogeneous catalysis are challenging to be measured on a single‐particle level. For the first time, one X‐ray beam is used to determine the crystallographic structure and reactivity of a single zeolite crystal. The method generates μm‐resolved X‐ray diffraction (μ‐XRD) and X‐ray excited optical fluorescence (μ‐XEOF) maps of the crystallinity and Brønsted reactivity of a zeolite crystal previously reacted with a styrene probe molecule. The local gradients in chemical reactivity (derived from μ‐XEOF) were correlated with local crystallinity and framework Al content, determined by μ‐XRD. Two distinctly different types of fluorescent species formed selectively, depending on the local zeolite crystallinity. The results illustrate the potential of this approach to resolve the crystallographic structure of a porous material and its reactivity in one experiment via X‐ray induced fluorescence of organic molecules formed at the reactive centers.