ELECTROCHEMISTRY OF CHEMICALLY-MODIFIED ZEOLITES - DISCUSSION AND NEW TRENDS

Synthetic faujasite Y zeolite has been modified chemically by fixing metal complexes within the pore system. The electrochemical behavior of ferricenium, fixed by ion exchange, and Fe(III)Salen+, Mn(III)Salen+, Co(II) and Fe(II) + hexadecafluorophthalocyanines physically encapsulated into the zeolite supercages has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry. The results show a clear difference between the electrochemistry of the zeolite-exchanged cationic complexes (i.e. ferricenium) and the zeolite-encapsulated complexes (i.e. Fe(III)Salen+) resulting from their method of fixation. Thus the use of graphite pressed powder composite electrodes allows electrochemical analysis of the intrazeolite complexes. The electron transfer and charge compensation processes are discussed.