Zeolite, synthetic

Synthetic Zeolites. Many new crystalline 2eohtes have been synthesi2ed and several fulfill important functions in the chemical and petroleum industries and in consumer products such as detergents. The stmctural formula of a 2eohte is based on the crystal unit cell, the smallest unit of stmcture,... 

Table 3. Some Synthetic Zeolites Prepared from Sodium Aluminosilicate Gels...

Most ion exchangers in large-scale use are based on synthetic resins—either preformed and then chemically reacted, as for polystyrene, or formed from active monomers (olefinic acids, amines, or phenols). Natural zeolites were the first ion exchangers, and both natural and synthetic zeolites are in use today. 

Molecular sieves are an adsorbent that is produced by the dehydration of naturally occurring or synthetic zeolites (crystalline alkali-metal aluminosilicates). The dehydration leaves inter-crystalline cavities into which normal paraffin molecules are selectively retained and other molecules are excluded. This process is used to remove normal paraffins from gasoline fuels for improved combustion. Molecular sieves are used to manufacture high-purity solvents. 

Noble gas hydrates are formed similarly when water is frozen under a high pressure of gas (p. 626). They have the ideal composition, [Gg(H20)46], and again are formed by Ar, Kr and Xe but not by He or Ne. A comparable phenomenon occurs when synthetic zeolites (molecular sieves) are cooled under a high pressure of gas, and Ar and Kr have been encapsulated in this way (p. 358). Samples containing up to 20% by weight of Ar have been obtained. 

Zeolites employed in the manufacture of the FCC catalyst are synthetic versions of naturally occurring zeolites called faujasites. There are about 40 known natural zeolites and over 150 zeolites that have been synthesized. Of this number, only a few have found commercial applications. Table 3-1 shows properties of the major synthetic zeolites. 

Among the three-dimensional silicates are the zeolites, which contain cavities or tunnels in which Na+ or Caz+ ions may be trapped. Synthetic zeolites with made-to-order holes are used in home water softeners. When hard water containing Ca2+ ions flows through a zeolite column, an exchange reaction occurs. If we represent the formula of die zeolite as NaZ, where Z represents a complex, three-dimensional anion, the water-softening reaction can be represented by the equation... 

The reaction scheme is rather complex also in the case of the oxidation of o-xylene (41a, 87a), of the oxidative dehydrogenation of n-butenes over bismuth-molybdenum catalyst (87b), or of ethylbenzene on aluminum oxide catalysts (87c), in the hydrogenolysis of glucose (87d) over Ni-kieselguhr or of n-butane on a nickel on silica catalyst (87e), and in the hydrogenation of succinimide in isopropyl alcohol on Ni-Al2Oa catalyst (87f) or of acetophenone on Rh-Al203 catalyst (87g). Decomposition of n-and sec-butyl acetates on synthetic zeolites accompanied by the isomerization of the formed butenes has also been the subject of a kinetic study (87h). 

Though as yet in its infancy, the application of laser Raman spectroscopy to the study of the nature of adsorbed species appears certain to provide unusually detailed information on the structure of oxide surfaces, the adsorptive properties of natural and synthetic zeolites, the nature of adsorbate-adsorbent interaction, and the mechanism of surface reactions. 

Under the mineralogical name zeolite such sieves occur naturally. For technical purposes due to their higher uniformity only synthetic zeolites are used [10], In the empirical formula Me is an exchangeable cation of the valence n (zeolites are cation exchangers). Molecular sieves have a very regular and orderly crystal structure, which is characterized by a three-dimensional system of cavities with a diameter of 11 A. These cavities are interconnected by pores with a constant diameter. The value of this diameter depends on the type of the exchangeable cation Me. It is 5 A, if in the above formula Me stands for 75% Na+ and 25% Ca2+. 

To overcome the limitations of natural zeolites a whole range of synthetic zeolites have been manufactured since the 1950s. These have tailored pore sizes and tuned acidities, as well as often incorporating other metal species. The basic synthesis involves mixing a source of silica, usually sodium silicate or colloidal Si02, with a source of alumina, often sodium aluminate, and a base such as sodium hydroxide. The mixture is heated at temperatures up to 200 °C under autogenous pressure for a period of a few days to a few weeks to allow crystallization of the zeolite. 

Zeolite A is by far the most widely produced synthetic zeolite, with an annual production of some 1.3 million tonnes. As may be expected from this large volume its main use is not as a catalyst but as a detergent builder (Box 4.2). Since about 1970 the use of zeolite catalysts has provided huge economic and environmental benefits to the bulk chemical and petroleum refining industries. 

Natural zeolites may bear the name of the mineral (mordenite, faujasite, ferrier-ite, silicalite), or sometimes that of the discoverer, e.g. Barrerite after Professor Barrer, or the place where they were found, e.g. Bikitaite from Bikita, Zimbabwe. Synthetic zeolites are usually named after the industry or university where they were developed, e.g. VPI comes from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and ZSM stands for Zeolite Socony Mobil. 

The linking pattern of two zeolites is shown in Fig. 16.24. They have the /I-cage as one of their building blocks, that is, a truncated octahedron, a polyhedron with 24 vertices and 14 faces. In the synthetic zeolite A (Linde A) the /3-cages form a cubic primitive lattice, and are joined by cubes. j3-Cages distributed in the same manner as the atoms in diamond and linked by hexagonal prisms make up the structure of faujasite (zeolite X). 

Five common desiccant materials are used to adsorb water vapor montmorillonite clay ([(Na,Cao.5)o.33(Al,Mg)2Si40io(OH)2 H20], silica gel, molecular sieves (synthetic zeolite), calcium sulfate (CaS04), and calcium oxide (CaO). These desiccants remove water by a variety of physical and chemical methods adsorption, a process whereby a layer or layers of water molecules adhere to the surface of the desiccant capillary condensation, a procedure whereby the small pores of the desiccant become filled with water and chemical action, a procedure whereby the desiccant undergoes a chemical reaction with water. 

Gworek B. Inactivation of cadmium in contaminated soils using synthetic zeolites. Environ Pollut 1992a 75 269-171. 

One of the most promising techniques for studying transition metal ions involves the use of zeolite single crystals. Such crystals offer a unique opportunity to carry out single crystal measurements on a large surface area material. Suitable crystals of the natural large pore zeolites are available, and fairly small crystals of the synthetic zeolites can be obtained. The spectra in the faujasite-type crystals will not be simple because of the magnetically inequivalent sites however, the lines should be sharp and symmetric. Work on Mn2+ in hydrated chabazite has indicated that there is only one symmetry axis in that material 173), and a current study in the author s laboratory on Cu2+ in partially dehydrated chabazite tends to confirm this observation. 

Natural zeolites have been known for over 200 years, since the discovery of the first zeolite mineral, stilbit, by Crpnstedt.4 However, the first synthetic zeolites were only developed in the 1960s, through research in the laboratories of the petroleum... 

Pressure swing adsorption cycle sequence for a four-bed system. (Adapted from Miller, G.Q. and Stocker,., Selection of a Hydrogen Separation Process, UOP Report, January 1999, available at http //www.uop.com/ objects/SelOfHydroSepProc.pdf Cassidy, R.T., Adsorption and ion exchange with synthetic zeolites, in ACS Symposium Series, ed. W.H. Flank, American Chemical Society, Washington, Vol. 135, p. 275,1980.)... 

Cassidy, R.T., Adsorption and ion exchange with synthetic zeolites, in ACS Symposium Series, ed. W.H. Flank, American Chemical Society, Washington, Vol. 135, p. 275,1980. 

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