Synthesis and Characterization of Silicalite-1 Nanocrystals from a Clear Solution with Short Synthesis Time and High Yield

The reduction of crystal size to the nanometer scale is the basis for unique applications inmicroelectronics, nanocomposites, ultrathin oxide films and so forth. Lately, growing interest in the synthesis and utilization of microporous zeolite-type nanocrystals has been observed.Zeolitic materials are widely used in chemical process industries as catalysts, adsorbents and ionexchangers. Although they possess open structures where the intracrystalline volume is accessible via systems of channels, a substantial reduction of the crystal size is expected to have a strong impact on their properties [1]. Moreover the combination of nanometric size with accessible intracrystalline volume may offer numerous advantages in catalytic and separation processes. The synthesis of zeolite nanocrystals in the form of stable colloidal suspensions was one of the important events in zeolite science during the past decade. Several microporous materials, Such as MFI, LTA, FAU, BEA type materials, have been prepared in the form of colloidal suspensions with narrow particle size distribution [2,3].One of the important factor that influences zeolite crystal size is the temperature. The crystallization of zeolite nanoparticles is usually performed at the lowest possible temperature for a particular zeolite, which results in a relatively long synthesis. Therefore, a reduction of the crystallization time and optimization of the conditions yielding zeolite nanoparticles is highly desirable[4,5]. The goal of the present study was the rapid synthesis of silicalite-1 nanocrystals with narrow particle size distribution and high yield product. The effect of different synthesis parameters on the properties of final products were investigated to optimize the synthesis