Co-MOF nanosheet supported on ZSM-5 with an improved catalytic activity for air epoxidation of olefins

A composite material ZSM-5@Co-MOF containing Co-MOF and ZSM-5 was successfully prepared by steam-assisted crystallization of Co-MOF on the zeolite surface. Compared to physically mixing Co-MOF on the zeolite surfaces, Co-MOF nanosheets were uniformly attached to external surfaces of the ZSM-5 crystals because of the enhanced interaction between zeolite and Co-MOF in the composite. In addition, the Co-MOF was distributed as a nanosheet structure, and its dispersibility was greatly enhanced, in which this behavior led to more uniform distribution of the deposited active sites. Interestingly, the designed composite exhibited an excellent catalytic performance for the epoxidation of α-pinene with air. Compared to isolated Co-MOF and ZSM-5, high yield of the product (94.4%) was obtained over the 0.5ZSM-5@Co-MOF-150 composite due to the highly dispersed Co-MOF nanosheet. This opens up interesting prospects for developing new zeolite@MOF composite catalysts as efficient heterogeneous catalysts.