The Effect of Adsorbed Molecule Pka on Ion Exchange in Alkali-Metal Exchanged Zeolites: An in-Situ FTIR Investigation

When organic molecules with functional groups commonly found in biomass-derived platform molecules were introduced to alkali-metal cation exchanged zeolites, we observed an ion exchange between acidic hydrogen and the alkali-metal cation, creating a Brønsted acid site and an adsorbed salt species. The pKa of the adsorbate played a mediating role.