Catalytic synthesis of

m

-diethylbenzene (

m

-DEB) through alkylation of ethylbenzene (EB) may be a promising alternative route in comparison with traditional rectification of mixed DEB

for which the top priority is to develop efficient and stable heterogeneous catalysts. Here

the spherical nano-ZSM-5 zeolite with abundant intergranular mesoporous is synthesized by the seed-mediated growth method for alkylation of EB with ethanol to produce

m

-DEB. The results show that the spherical nano-ZSM-5 zeolite exhibits better stability and higher alkylation activity at a lower temperature than those of commercial micropore ZSM-5. And then

the spherical nano-ZSM-5 is further modified by La

2

O

3

through acid treatment followed by immersion method. The acid treatment causes nano-ZSM-5 to exhibit the increased pore size but decreased the acid sites

and subsequent La

2

O

3

loading reintroduces the weak acid sites. As a result

the HNO

3

eLa

2

O

3

-modified catalyst exhibits a slight increase in EB conversion and DEB yield in comparison with unmodified one

and meanwhile

it still maintains high

m

-DEB selectivity. The catalyst after acid treatment achieves higher catalytic stability besides maintaining the high alkylation activity of EB with ethanol. The present study on the spherical nano-HZSM-5 zeolite and its modification catalyst with excellent alkyla

tion ability provides new insights into the production of

m

-DEB.