Methanol-to-hydrocarbons conversion over MoO3/H-ZSM-5 catalysts prepared via lower temperature calcination: a route to tailor the distribution and evolution of promoter Mo species, and their corresponding catalytic properties† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: more TEM images of post-run samples, CS Chem3D Model of zeolite and external surface MoO3, images and file (.c3xml). See DOI: 10.1039/c5sc01825k Click here for additional data file. Click here for additional data file.

The supplementary data have included a full range of TEM pictures of the post-run samples, including 400 oC calcinated MoO3/H-ZSM-5 samples (coked) and the parent H-ZSM-5 (coked), showing the distribution of Mo clusters on the zeolite crystallite external surface, and the observed coke deposition upon the spreading of the Mo species. The Figures S1-S9 are the complementary of the Fig. 8 in the paper. TEM measurements were undertaken using a JEM-2100UHR microscope (200kV). The pure H-ZSM-5 sample after MTH reaction exhibits more uniformly dispersed coking zones (or areas), as shown by the Fig. S1 and S2. Clusters of Mo species on the zeolite external surface are clearly shown for the post-run MoO3 loaded samples. Those black-color, uniformly surface dispersed particles (better shown in the Fig. S3, S5, and S7) have covered some areas of the zeolite crystal surface, and are supposed to partially block the product transportations. On the other hand, the coking zones of the MoO3 loaded samples also show somewhat preference to the location of those surface Mo clusters (better shown in the Fig. S9). Amplified vision (Fig. S4, S6 and S8) also supports the above assumptions.