Zeolite Synthesis in Iran: A Comprehensive Review of Historical Progress and Incoming Challenges

Zeolites are the oldest porous inorganic polymers, the structure of them produced by combining of SiO۴ and AlO۴ unites by binding of Oxygen bridges. The synthetic zeolites have been studied in the fields of catalyst and photocatalyst, detergent builders, water purification, environmental uses, removal of radioactive elements and toxic minerals, membranes and sensors, porous antibacterial material, drug delivery and so on. In Iran for the first time (۱۹۸۶), the zeolites Y, A, P and HS were synthesized by using Salafchegan Kaolinite and silica of Hamadan, then were cation exchanged with La۳+ ions and used as catalyst for cracking of n-hexane. Afterward, the zeolites X, P and HS were synthesized by Zonouze Kaolinite and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of them was determined for several cations. The cation exchanged zeolites were used for catalytic reduction of Schiff bases such as Salen and Salophen. In ۲۰۰۱, we started the synthesis of ZSM-۵ for the first time by using Zonouze kaolinite, which the results were published in next years. Then, the different ZSM-۵ type metalosilicate zeolites were synthesized with using isomorph feature to substitute Al۳+ ions with different cations. Synthesis of metalosilicate zeolites was carried out using various precursors as silica source, metal salts, and different templates. The prepared zeolites were used as catalyst, photocatalyst, and drug carriers. Nanocomposites prepared by supporting nanoparticles (metal and metal oxide nanoparticles and quantum dots) on the zeolites have found emerging applications in different fields.

کلیدواژه ها:

Zeolite ، Metalosilicate ، Kaolinite ، ZSM-۵