DIELECTRIC STUDIES OF MOLECULAR MOBILITY IN HYDRATED ZEOLITES

We report on detailed investigations of the dielectric relaxation mechanisms in a Na-13X zeolite by means of the method of thermally-stimulated depolarization currents (TSDC) over a wide range of temperatures, 77-300 K, and water content, 0.020-0.566 w/w. Interest is mainly focused on quantitatively characterizing the effects of water on the motion of ions and the reduction of the mobility of water molecules in the confined pore geometry. Five distinct relaxation processes were identified. Three of them were attributed to motions of ions, namely, in the order of increasing temperature. local jumps of ions in the supercages, a Maxwell-Wagner effect and d.c. conductivity. The remaining two processes, present in the samples only for water content higher than a critical one for the completion of the first hydration layer, about 0.30, were ascribed to the reorientation of water molecules in the supercages and the small beta-cages, respectively. The reduction of the mobility of water molecules was much stronger in the beta-cages than in the supercages.