Transforming inactive coke molecules into active intermediates in zeolites

Generating active intermediates from deactivating coke molecules by a regeneration process that produces valuable syngas as a by-product almost sounds too good to be true. In a recent publication in Nature Communications, Zhou and co-workers demonstrated this innovative approach by converting coke molecules into active naphthalenic cations by steam cracking in the industrially used SAPO-34 material, after it was active in the methanol-to-olefins (MTO) reaction. In this way, the nature of the commonly found hydrocarbon pool species was altered resulting in an enhanced ethylene selectivity. Their finding has been confirmed by the use of advanced characterization methods and computational calculations.