The use of the high pressure hydrothermal method for tailored synthesis of zeolites without structure directing agents. Instance: Synthesis of natural zeolites with 5-1 building units

Abstract

The synthetic counterparts of natural alumosilicate zeolites containing 5-1 structural building units have been synthesized by simulating the natural hydrothermal formation conditions. Synthetic glasses of the respective zeolite composition were used as starting materials, while distilled water under hydrothermal conditions was used as pressure and reaction medium. No structure directing agents, additional solutions or sol-gel material has been employed.

The experience of former investigations on the tailored synthesis of alumosilicate zeolites showed, that 220°C is the expected temperature of maximum gain. Synthesis time was always 60 d. Synthesis pressure for mazzite (MAZ), mordenite (MOR), fer-rierite (FER), epistilbite (EPI) and dachiardite PAC) was 1 kbar while bikitaite (BIK) could only be synthesized at 2 kbar pressure.

The results of the investigations on hand show, that this process can be applied for the tailored synthesis of zeolites with completely new properties (e.g., semiconducting frameworks).

Key Words:

• High-pressure hydrothermal method, Zeolites
• Tailored zeolite synthesis
• Hydrothermal synthesis
• Glass conversion to zeolites