ION EXCHANGE SEPARATIONS WITH MOLECULAR SIEVE ZEOLITES.

Abstract

Porous crystalline aluminosilicates known as molecular sieve zeolites have found wide use in both catalytic conversion processes and adsorption separation processes. The catalysts and sorbents for these applications are often prepared by cation exchange of the as-synthesize molecular sieves to obtain the forms wth optimum performance. More recently, because of their unique properties, growing interest has focused on molecular sieve zeolites for use in ion exchange separations in water softening, pollution abatement, energy production, agriculture, animal husbandry, aqua-culture, metals processing, and biomedical areas. Existing and potential ion exchange applications of molecular sieve zeolites are reviewed, with emphasis on their selectivity and capacity for calcium, magnesium, ammonium, cesium, strontium, silver, copper, nickel, cadmium, zinc, and other metal cations.