Synthesis and characterization of metalloborophosphates with zeotype ANA framework by the boric acid 'flux' method

Two new members of the zeolite analcime (ANA) family, (NH4)16[Zn16B8P24O96] (designated ZnBP-ANA) and (NH4)16[Zn13.4Co2.6B8P24O96] (designated ZnCoBP-ANA), have been prepared by the boric acid 'flux' method and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, SEM, ICP, TGA, IR and UV-Vis analyses. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses show that their open-framework structures are constructed from the alternation of BO4 (ZnO4, CoO4) and PO4 tetrahedra through corner-sharing vertex oxygen atoms to generate a three-dimensional (3D) open-framework with distorted eight-membered ring (8-MR) channels along the [1 0 0], [1 0 1] and [0 0 1] directions, respectively. The negative charges of the inorganic framework are balanced by the ammonium ions located in the channels. Crystal data: ZnBP-ANA, cubic I213, a = 13.173(6) Å, V = 2286.2(0) Å3, R1 = 0.0807 (I > 2σ(I)), wR2 = 0.1752 (all data); ZnCoBP-ANA, cubic I213, a = 13.1558(15) Å, V = 2276.9(4) Å3, R1 = 0.0943 (I > 2σI)), wR2 = 0.2069 (all data).