{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T05:10:37Z","timestamp":1788930637526,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788307200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["22508037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22508037"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["22508037"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22508037"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012226","name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DUT22LAB602"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DUT22LAB602"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012226","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012226","name":"Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["DUT25RC(3)061"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DUT25RC(3)061"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012226","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Regional Joint Fund of Liaoning Provincial Department of Science and Technology","award":["2024LNYKJ04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024LNYKJ04"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Low-cost synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolite is critical for its large-scale industrial application. Herein, a seed-assisted low-template hydrothermal route was employed to fabricate ZSM-5 zeolites. The regulatory effects of gradient crystallization temperatures on the crystallization kinetics, morphology, pore structure and acid properties of ZSM-5 were systematically investigated, and the structure\u2013activity relationship linking temperature-driven evolution and catalytic behavior in benzene alkylation with methanol was established. The results reveal that increasing the crystallization temperature shortens the amorphous induction period, facilitates framework aluminum (Al) incorporation and increases the concentration of Br\u00f8nsted acid sites. Meanwhile, crystallization temperature modulates the specific surface area and intercrystalline mesopore volume, thereby tuning the accessibility of acid sites and the mass transfer efficiency of reactants and products. The sample synthesized at a moderate temperature of 170 \u00b0C achieves an optimal balance between textural properties and acid concentration. Benefiting from its large specific surface area, abundant intercrystalline mesopores and high Br\u00f8nsted acid concentration, the catalyst affords a benzene conversion of 69.1% and a methanol utilization of 79.1%, and maintains stable operation over 135 h on stream. The temperature-dependent regulation insights uncovered in this work facilitate low-cost synthesis of ZSM-5 and rational design of high-performance catalysts for aromatic alkylation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules31173084","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T14:35:29Z","timestamp":1788359729000},"page":"3084","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Temperature-Dependent Microstructural Evolution of Seed-Assisted Low-Template ZSM-5 and Its Catalytic Behavior in Benzene Alkylation with Methanol"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"31","author":[{"given":"Shuyi","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanji","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qihao","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianle","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yilin","family":"Xiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yining","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiaxing","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ajuan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Liaoning Key Laboratory of Chemical Additive Synthesis and Separation, Yingkou Institute of Technology, Yingkou 115014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinwen","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences, Dalian University of Technology, Panjin 124221, China"},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"817","DOI":"10.1021\/cs4000766","article-title":"Methanol Usage in Toluene Methylation with Medium and Large Pore Zeolites","volume":"3","author":"Ahn","year":"2013","journal-title":"ACS Catal."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7780","DOI":"10.1021\/acscatal.1c01422","article-title":"Aromatics Production via Methanol-Mediated Transformation Routes","volume":"11","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"ACS Catal."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e18054","DOI":"10.1002\/aic.18054","article-title":"Tuning the Mesoscopically Structured ZSM-5 Nanosheets for the Alkylation between Toluene and Methanol","volume":"69","author":"Xiong","year":"2023","journal-title":"AIChE J."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174964","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cej.2026.174964","article-title":"Engineering Pt-Loaded Shape-Selective ZSM-5 via Atomic Layer Deposition for Stable Para-Xylene Production","volume":"534","author":"Zhang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Chem. 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