Preparation of Ultrafine Zeolite A Crystals with Narrow Particle Size Distribution Using a Two-Phase Liquid Segmented Microfluidic Reactor

A method for synthesizing ultrafine zeolite A crystals with narrow particle size distribution (PSD) using a water−liquid paraffin two-phase segmented microfluidic device assembled by coaxial dual tubes is reported. The influence of the sizes of the outer tubes, the aging of the synthesis solution, and the reaction temperature was examined. As-synthesized zeolite crystals were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscope. Zeolite A crystals with mean particle sizes (MS) of 408 and 262 nm and PSDs of 150−620 and 100−420 nm were prepared in the segmented microfluidic reactor (inner tube i.d. of 0.6 mm, outer tube i.d. of 1 mm) at 80 °C for 20 min using the fresh synthesis solution and for 5 min using the aged synthesis solution, respectively. The MS and PSD of zeolite A can be controlled by adjusting the temperature and the sizes of the ...