Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE
(ISSN 1009-3095, Monthly)
2005 Vol. 6B No. 5 p.369-372
Growth mechanism of a preferentially oriented mordenite membrane
LI Gang†1, LIN Rui-sen1, KIKUCHI Eiichi2, MATSUKATA Masahiko2
(1Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China)
(2Department of Applied Chemistry, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan)
†E-mail: gli@zju.edu.cn
Received Sept. 3, 2004; revision accepted Nov. 9, 2004
Abstract: A preferentially oriented mordenite membrane was successfully prepared on a seeded porous a-alumina support. Characterization results of XRD (X-ray diffractometer) and FE-SEM (field emission scanning electron microscope) revealed that evolutionary selection might predominantly contribute to the formation of the sharply oriented mordenite membrane. The necessary conditions under which evolutionary selection occurs are: (a) the number density of nuclei on the support surface should be high enough at the early stage; (b) the crystals should grow fastest along one direction; and (c) the zeolite layer should proceed via the successive growth of the crystals nucleated on the support surface instead of the accumulation of the crystals formed in the bulk solution.
Key words: Mordenite, Zeolite membrane, Orientation, Evolutionary selection
doi:10.1631/jzus.2005.B0369 CLC number: O69