The hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites: Precursors, intermediates and reaction mechanism

The process of hydrothermal zeolite synthesis can be most adequately explained by a mechanism based upon the solution-mediation model, whether or not there is a visible liquid phase. The common presence of mobile species emphasises the overall similarity of zeolite synthesis reactions so that the need to distinguish any separate “gel rearrangement” or “solid-phase transformation” mechanism becomes unnecessary.