| May 03, 2022 |
Chemists find size limits of the smallest zeolite crystals(Nanowerk News) For zeolites, a class of minerals used in industrial and chemical processes, smaller may be better. Synthesizing small zeolites only a few nanometers across could make them more effective and efficient. How small can they go? Around three nanometers is the limit, according to new research from University of Utah chemists. |
| Zeolites are minerals with a porous atomic structure and can sponge up other molecules and catalyze chemical reactions. Ever-smaller synthesized zeolites may perform even better than their large-scale counterparts. |
| University of Utah chemists simulated the properties of, and forces acting on, extremely small zeolites. For scale, we’re talking about crystals that are made up of no more than a few atoms. They’re smaller than a human hair like a mouse is smaller than an elephant. |
| One of the researchers, Valeria Molinero, previously applied similar techniques to find that a nanodroplet of 90 water molecules is the smallest droplet that can form ice. |
| Their results are published in Angewandte Chemie ("What is the Smallest Zeolite that Could be Synthesized?"). |
| The team found that, for the typical hydrothermal synthesis methods, crystals below around 3 nanometers in size are unstable and collapse into compact molecules that don’t have zeolites’ superpowers. |
| The results can help scientists understand the limits and dynamics of nanoscale chemistry in their quest for the smallest zeolites. |
| Source: University of Utah |
