Zeolites are familiar to consumers as the white crystals in aquarium filters, but their real economic impact is behind the scenes, where they are critical for extracting various chemical components from petroleum and its byproducts. These porous minerals have been used as filters for decades; however, creating new types of zeolites remains a matter of sophisticated trial-and-error. No one has been able to figure out how the crystals form, even in the laboratory. Now University of Minnesota (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota) chemical engineer Michael Tsapatsis, graduate student and lead author Tracy Davis, and their colleagues say they have uncovered new details for the step-by-step evolution from molecular soup to carefully engineered zeolite crystal. The research team's goal is to control the structure of the crystals so zeolites can serve as sponges for hydrogen in fuel tanks, channels in next-generation sensors, and separation membranes for chemical manufacturing.
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