Synthesis, Characterization, and Ethylene Removal of Silver-Zeolite (LTA, MFI) for Fruit Preservation

Ethylene is a volatile organic compound that can accelerate the ripening of climacteric fruits, posing challenges in post-harvest preservation and transportation. It is an urge to have an adsorbent to remove ethylene from the autocatalytic reaction when fruits ripen, thereby slowing the ripening process. There are numerous intensive studies to fabricate materials capable of ethylene removal. With the same purpose, this study has focused on the modification of zeolite A and zeolite ZSM-5 using different concentrations of silver nitrate solution to obtain an effective ethylene adsorbent. Advanced material analysis techniques such as XRD, SEM, EDS were conducted to determine the crystalline structure, morphology, surface composition of the materials. The results show that silver zeolites, especially Ag/ZSM-5 have the potential to be a viable solution for ethylene removal that can extend the shelf-life of climacteric fruits. Ag/ZSM-5 sample shows an excellent performance in ethylene removal capacity compared to commercial samples with a 0.7 mmol ethylene/gads capacity.