Zeolites: physical aspects and environmental applications

Abstract

Research into zeolites continues apace, both in a search to elucidate their fundamental properties with the view to synthesising specifically-tailored materials for particular applications, and in finding new applications from the considerable existing knowledge about these important and remarkable materials, especially in relation to providing cleaner (“green”) processes with less impact on the environment, and in environmental remediation strategies. Advances in theoretical methods are likely to play an increased role in predicting the features and synthetic viability of modified and novel zeolite structures. As pressure mounts on the World's finite and dwindling supplies of hydrocarbons—obtained mainly from crude oil (and increasingly from coal and natural gas)—developments in the use of zeolites as catalysts to render known hydrocarbon cracking and oxidation chemistry more efficient, and the discovery of new catalytic processes, involving zeolites, both for the procurement and modification of hydrocarbons are to be expected.