Single-crystal structures of Zn2+-exchanged zeolite A: dependence on Zn2+ concentration of aqueous solution during exchange

To study the tendency of Zn2+ exchange into zeolite A, two single-crystals of fully dehydrated Zn2+-and Na+-exchanged zeolite A were prepared by the static ion-exchange method using a mixed ion-exchange solution whose Zn(NO3)(2):NaNO3 mol ratios were 1:4 (crystal 1) and 3:2 (crystal 2), respectively, with a total concentration of 0.05 M, followed by vacuum dehydration at 623 K. Their single-crystal structures and chemical compositions were determined by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques and electron probe microanalysis. Their structures were refined to the final error indices R (1)/wR (2) = 0.0678/0.2154 and 0.0619/0.1938 for crystals 1 and 2, respectively. In both structures, the 4 Zn2+ ions are located in sodalite unit, whereas, the remaining 4 Na+ ions are located in large cavity. Unit-cell formula of two single-crystal structures is approximately |Zn4Na4|[Si12Al12O48]-LTA. This work shows that the degree of Zn2+ exchange by increasing the initial Zn2+ concentration and decreasing the initial Na+ concentration in given ion-exchange solution does not differ significantly.