Synthesis and characterisation of zeolite LTA with sheet structure

Abstract

This work reports a simple and effective method for the rapid synthesis of zeolite Linde Type A (LTA) with sheet structure from kaolin. X-ray diffraction results confirm the purity and crystallinity of the synthesised zeolite LTA with sheet structure. Transmission electron microscopy images clearly show the sheet-like structure of the synthesised zeolite LTA. The selected area electron diffraction pattern indicates that the crystal structure type of the synthesised zeolite LTA with sheet structure is the body-centred cube. Meanwhile, the elemental mapping confirms the coexistence and uniform distribution of Si, Al, O and Na elements in the lamellar structure of the synthesised zeolite LTA. In addition, N2 adsorption-desorption technique indicates that the surface area of the synthesised zeolite LTA with sheet structure increases up to 39.7994 m2g-1, a much higher value than that of zeolite LTA.