Continuous Flow Synthesis of ZSM-5 Zeolite on the Order of Seconds

Abstract

Zeolites have typically been synthesized via hydrothermal treatment, a process designed to artificially mimic the geological formation conditions of natural zeolites. This synthesis route, typically carried out in batch reactors like autoclaves, takes a time so long (typically, on the order of days) that the crystallization of zeolites had long been believed to be very slow in nature. Long periods of hydrothermal treatment also cause a burden on both energy efficiency and operational costs. Recently, we have reported the ultrafast syntheses of a class of industrially important zeolites within several minutes.[1,2] Further shortening the crystallization time to the order of seconds would be a great challenge but can significantly benefit the mass product of zeolites as well as the fundamental understanding of the crystallization mechanism.