Formation Pathway for LTA Zeolite Crystals Synthesized via a Charge Density Mismatch Approach

A solid understanding of the molecular-level mechanisms responsible for zeolite crystallization remains one of the most challenging issues in modern zeolite science. Here we investigated the formation pathway for high-silica LTA zeolite crystals in the simultaneous presence of tetraethylammonium (TEA(+)), tetramethylammonium (TMA(+)), and Na(+) ions as structure-directing agents (SDAs) with the goal of better understanding the charge density mismatch synthesis approach, which was designed to foster cooperation between two or more different SDAs. Nucleation was found to begin with the formation of lta-cages rather than the notably smaller sod and d4r-cages, with concomitant incorporation of TMA(+) and Na(+) into a very small amount of the solid phase with a low Si/Al ratio (ca. 2.5). The overall characterization results of our work demonstrate that sod-cages are first built around the preorganized lta-cages and that d4r-cages are in turn constructed by the progressive addition of low-molecular-weight (alumino)silicate species, which promotes the formation and growth of embryonic LTA zeolite crystals. We also show that the crystal growth may take place by a similar process in which TEA(+) is also incorporated, forming a single LTA zeolite phase with a higher Si/Al ratio (ca. 3.3).