Microwave-assisted synthesis of nanosized FAU-type zeolite in water-in-oil microemulsion

Nanosized FAU-type zeolite was successively synthesized in water-in-oil microemulsion (W/O) system using microwave heating method. The composition proportion of water and oil phase under conventional heating and microwave heating were investigated. About 10–30 nm FAU-type zeolite was synthesized with a low microwave power of 100 W for 10–60 min. XRD patterns confirmed FAU-type crystal phase and the size was about 10–30 nm. TEM micrographs showed that FAU-type zeolite crystals were of nanometer size. FT-IR spectra analysis further showed that there were typical infrared band of FAU-type zeolite when the calcined temperature was below 500 °C. BET data showed that the nanosized FAU-type zeolite had a larger BET surface area and external surface area than that of microsized NaX zeolite.

► Novel method of nanosized FAU-type zeolite was presented.
► The size of nanosized zeolite was about 10–30 nm.
► The Water-in-oil microemulsion was employed in the synthesis of nanosized zeolite.
► The nanosized zeolite was synthesized under microwave heating.