The direct conversion of impure natural kaolin into pure zeolite catalysts

The use of kaolin as a silica source in the synthesis of zeolites has been achieved using a novel synthetic approach. The technique reported allows the use of impure kaolin as a starting material to produce pure ZSM-5 zeolite. This is important as it is extremely difficult and time consuming to remove all impurities from natural kaolin. This is also the first report of the direct synthesis of a high silica zeolite from kaolin without the use of an external silica source.