Zeolite mordenite has been identified as suitable catalyst
for hydro isomerization of hydrocarbons, by virtue
of the presence of strong acid sites that can activate even
small paraffin molecules such as pentane and hexane
[1,2]. The proton form of mordenite in combination with
noble metal ion such as Pt can effectively perform the
reactions such as skeletal isomerization, hydrogenation
and dehydrogenation for the production of environment-
friendly high-octane isomers suitable for the
gasoline blending [3,4]. In general mordenite catalysts
undergo rapid deactivation because of their uni-dimensional
pore system with small side-pockets that are generally
not accessible for reactant molecules to enter and
limit the free diffusion of intermediate and product
molecules that eventually affect the catalyst activity.
However, by adopting some post synthesis modification
methods such as framework dealumination, mordenite
has been successfully used in industrial processes viz.
DOW’s process for cumene production [5–7] and Shell’s
process for hydroisomerization of linear alkanes to
branched alkanes [8].