| May 03, 2022 |
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(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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Their results are published in Angewandte Chemie (“What is the Smallest Zeolite that Could be Synthesized?”).
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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.
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The results can help scientists understand the limits and dynamics of nanoscale chemistry in their quest for the smallest zeolites.
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