Question

Who discovered Zeolite?

Answer 1

1. The founder of modern mineralogy Baron Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, a Swedish chemist first discovered the zeolites in the 18th century.
2. He noticed that the rapid heating of the material produced a large amount of steam from water. This steam was absorbed by the material.
3. Zeolites are microporous, three-dimensional structures of Aluminium Silicate. They allow small molecules to pass through them as they have small openings but cannot pass the large molecules. This is also known as a molecular sieve.
4. Zeolites can be found naturally or can be synthesised.
5. Example of zeolite is Faujasite ${\mathrm{Na}}_{56}{\left({\mathrm{AlO}}_2\right)}_{56}{\left({\mathrm{SiO}}_2\right)}_{136}.250{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$.