Zeolites and related microporous materials: State of the art 1994 (Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis, vol. 84A-C): by J. Weitkamp, H.G. Karge, H. Pfeiffer and W. Hölderich (Editors), Elsevier Science BV, Amsterdam, 1994, ISBN 0-444-81847-2, 2468 pp., Dfl.895/$511.50

✍ Scribed by James B. McMonagle

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 177 KB
• Volume: 124
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0926-860X
• DOI: 10.1016/0926-860x(95)80108-1

✦ Synopsis

This substantial three volume set contains the contents of the 7 plenary lectures, 100 oral and 175 poster presentations given at the 10th International Zeolite Conference (1994). It is a pleasant surprise to find, contrary to the situation in many cases, that the material in this set of conference proceedings has been presented in a well-ordered fashion, and that a reasonable degree of editorial control has been exerted in order to realise good scientific and presentational quality. The work has been divided into seven sections: zeolite synthesis (338 pages, 41 papers); structure and characterisation (449 pages, 69 papers); modification (237 pages, 30 papers); diffusion and adsorption (238 pages, 29 papers); catalysis (660 pages, 83 papers); theory and modelling (155 pages, 18 papers); and, industrial applications and novel materials (147 pages, 16 papers). As the editors point out, there is no attempt to achieve a balance in terms of content between the various sub-sections of zeolite research and application. Instead the relative amount of ongoing research activity in each of these areas is reflected.

The preparation of aluminosilicate zeolites, silicalites, and aluminium phosphates which contain structurally incorporated metal cations occurs as a majortheme in many of the papers in the zeolite synthesis section. Titanosilicate molecular sieves (Franke et al.), vanadium silicalites (Giordano et al.), and cobalt aluminium phosphates (Norby et al.) are some of the syntheses reported in this category. A review of the use of powder diffraction methods for zeolite structure analysis (MC Cusker) serves as an introduction to Section 2 (structure and characterisation). This choice of subject is, in the opinion of this reviewer, particularly appropriate given the recent developments in experimental and data analysis methods for this area. Amongst the plethora of different zeolite characterisation methods employed in the work reported in this section, are the more usual techniques such as FTIR, acidity characterisation, and electron microscopy, as well as some more exotic approaches. Examples of the latter are the use of in situ, combined XRD/XAFS (Colyer et al.), and muon spin relaxation (Shelley et al.). Section 3 (modification) for the most pan contains papers that deal with one of three subjects: dealumination, deposition of metal particles in zeolites, and the fabrication of composite structures such as silicalite-in-metal membranes (Kolsh et al.) The diffusion and adsorption section comprises roughly equal numbers of studies involving gas-phase and liquid-phase adsorbates.

Zeolite catalysis (Section 5) constitutes the largest single area of activity, although it is evident from the work presented in this publication that there has been a shift of focus away from the classical zeolite catalyzed hydrocarbon conversion reactions towards research on the use of zeolites for speciality chemical synthesis and for oxidation and environmental pollutant decomposition/reduction reactions. Particularly evident under the latter heading are twelve papers dealing with various aspects of NOx abatement/reduction by zeolites and modified zeolites. Both Sections 6 (theory and modelling) and 7 (industrial applications and