Project
Hydrated silicate ionic liquids for zeolite synthesis
Zeolites are the workhorses for sustainable industrial chemistry but also for emerging new
applications. The more surprising is the fact their genesis still remains largely in the dark. Hydrated
silicate ionic liquids (HSILs) are clear liquids without presence of any gel or particle fraction. Having
been described long ago, they never were considered for zeolite synthesis. Their water content is so
low that every water molecule takes part in hydration of (alumino)-silicate U+2013ation ion pairs. This
offers ideal conditions for a detailed fundamental study of zeolite formation: No hydrothermal
pressure is expressed during heating and diagnostics, usually obstructed by presence of gel or
particles in classic syntheses, can access processes occurring on molecular, mesoscale and
macroscopic level. Furthermore, a preliminary study has revealed the speciation in these systems is
limited and well defined, that zeolites can be synthesized at low temperatures and short times and
that onset of zeolite formation can be controlled by aluminate addition. This project will focus on
unraveling zeolite nucleation and growth on molecular level, combining state of the art liquid and
solid state NMR, SAXS, DLS and WAXS with molecular simulation. Asides the opportunity to describe
zeolite formation with unprecedented accuracy the study also will lead to development of new
synthesis approaches like continuous zeolite synthesis and hierarchical functional materials.
- See also: Hydrated silicate ionic liquids for zeolite synthesis