Using Taguchi Robust Design Method to Develop an Optimized Synthesis Procedure for Nanocrystals of ZSM-5 Zeolite

The effects of TPAOH/SiO2, H2O/SiO2, SiO2/Na2O and SiO2/Al2O3 ratios in the initial synthetic mixture on the crystallization of nanoparticles of ZSM-5 zeolite under atmospheric pressure were studied. A Taguchi orthogonal experimental design with three levels of the above-mentioned parameters was used to optimize the experiment parameters by the analysis of variances (ANOVA). Applying the Taguchi method significantly reduced the time and cost for optimization. The obtained products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy. As a result of the Taguchi analysis TPAOH/SiO2 followed by SiO2/Al2O3 was the most influencing parameters for the synthesis of nanosized ZSM-5 crystals.