Hydroxyl radicals speed up zeolite formation

(Phys.org)—Zeolite is a Greek word that literally means a boiling stone.They are porous materials used as adsorbents, catalysts, and as ion-exchangers, and used for water filtration, detergents, and air separation, among other things. Typically zeolites are made in the laboratory using a sol-gel process that involves baking the alumino silicate mixture in an oven for several days. While the crystallization process involves bond formation, breakage, and re-formation, the details of this mec