Intergrowth of Zeolites LTA and FAU/EMT in Nanosized Particles Synthesized from Organic-Free Gels

Maryam Khaleel, Jan Max Arana Juve, Safiya Khalil, Abdelhakim Elmhamdi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    5 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    The effect of process and composition parameters of inorganic aluminosilicate gels on the particle size of zeolite LTA were studied. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The crystallization domain of zeolite LTA around synthesis gel with composition 1.8 SiO2:1 Al2O3:12 Na2O:214 H2O was found to be narrow, with slight changes in composition leading to the crystallization of other zeolite phases, without a significant decrease in LTA particle size. Slightly increasing the Si/Al ratio of the synthesis gel results in the crystallization of a second population of nanosized crystals (down to 50 nm), which were revealed to be mostly FAU/EMT crystals from transmission electron microscopy imaging. FAU/EMT was found to exist as separate crystals or intergrown with LTA in the same particle, providing the first evidence of FAU/EMT and LTA intergrowth at this scale. Based on structural study using high resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging and comparison to simulations, we propose that the connection at the interface between LTA and Faujasite could be either by inversion or mirror symmetries across double six-membered rings, and both cases have been observed.

    Original languageBritish English
    Pages (from-to)3104-3112
    Number of pages9
    JournalCrystal Growth and Design
    Volume23
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    StatePublished - 3 May 2023

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