Abstract
Still 50 years ago natural zeolites mainly from vugs and fissures of volcanic rocks were considered a rare curiosity of nature. About 100 years ago chemists recognized that these minerals with a tetrahedral framework structure, characterized by internal porous space in form of cavities and connecting channels, can be used for ion exchange, molecular sieving, and catalytic reactions. Thus in the 1950s the chemical industry became engaged in the synthesis of these minerals. The industry aimed for chabazite but the synthesis failed and instead the most important synthetic zeolite LTA (Linde Type A) was produced. Simultaneously, geologists discovered huge deposits of natural zeolites mainly in altered volcanic tuffs. Whole mountain ranges on all continents consist of clinoptilolite, phillipsite, chabazite, and analcime with zeolite concentrations above 60%. Since this discovery there is a continuous competition between the pure but expensive synthetic products and the “dirty” but inexpensive natural zeolites. About 3.6 Mio tons of natural zeolites are annually produced. In contrast, 1.3 Mio tons of synthetic zeolites are annually consumed for detergents, catalysts, desiccation, and separation. Main applications (Armbruster, 2001) for natural zeolites are as soil conditioner, animal feed addition, ion exchanger for industrial-, agricultural-, and municipal- wastewater treatment, absorber of Sr and Cs radioisotopes in the nuclear industry and for clean up of nuclear accidents (Chernobyl), soil replacement (ZEOPONICS) in horticulture and also as cat litter. Even veterinary and medical applications are under investigation. In general, products from each natural zeolite deposit have a different favorable application depending on structure and chemistry of the zeolite.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alberti A (1972) On the crystal structure of the zeolite heulandite. Mineral Petrol 18:129–146
Armbruster T (1993) Dehydration mechanism of clinoptilolite and heulandite: single-crystal X-ray study of Na-poor, Ca-, K-, Mg-rich clinoptilolite at 100 K. Am Mineral 78:260–264
Armbruster T (2001) Clinoptilolite-heulandite: applications and basic research. In: Galarnau A, Di Renzo F, Faujula F, Vedrine J (eds) Studies in surface science and catalysis, vol 135. Zeolites and Mesoporous Materials at the Dawn of the 21st Century. Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, pp 13–27
Armbruster T, Gunter ME (1991) Stepwise dehydration of heulandite-clinoptilolite from Succor Creek, Oregon, USA: a single-crystal X-ray study at 100 K. Am Mineral 76:1872–1883
Coombs DS, Alberti A, Armbruster T, Artioli G, Colella C, Galli E, Grice JD, Liebau F, Minato H, Nickel EH, Passaglia E, Peacor DR, Quartieri S, Rinaldi R, Ross M, Sheppard RA, Tillmanns E, Vezzalini G (1997) Recommended nomenclature for zeolite minerals: report of the subcommittee on zeolites of the International Mineralogical Association, Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names. Can Mineral 35:1571–1606
Döbelin N, Armbruster T (2003) Stepwise dehydration and change of framework topology in Cd-exchanges heulandite. Micropor Mesopor Mat 61:85–103
Eisenman J (1962) Cation selective glass electrodes and their mode of operation. Biophys J Suppl 2:259–323
Gunter ME, Armbruster T, Kohler T, Knowles ChR (1994) Crystal structure and optical properties of Na-and Pb-exchanged heulandite-group zeolites. Am Mineral 79:675–682
Sherry HS (1969) The ion exchange properties of a zeolites. In: Marinsky JA (ed) Ion exchange, a series of advances, vol 2. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp 89–133
Yang P, Armbruster T (1996) Na, K, Rb, and Cs exchange in heulandite single-crystals: X-ray structure refinements at 100 K. J Solid State Chem 123:140–149
Yang P, Stolz J, Armbruster T, Gunter ME (1997) Na, K. Rb, and Cs exchange in heulandite single crystals: diffusion kinetics. Am Mineral 82:517–525
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Armbruster, T. (2008). Natural Zeolites: Cation Exchange, Cation Arrangement and Dehydration Behavior. In: Krivovichev, S.V. (eds) Minerals as Advanced Materials I. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77123-4_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-77123-4_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-77122-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-77123-4
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)