HYPERBOLIC SURFACES IN THE SOLID-STATE AND THE STRUCTURE OF ZSM-5 ZEOLITES

In this paper we discuss the importance of periodic minimal surfaces to the processes of diffusion and confinement of interstitial charges within a charged lattice. It has been suggested that the hyperbolic geometry of aluminosilicate networks in zeolites can be understood within this context, since the aluminosilica species are confined onto or close to these surfaces, owing to the field set up by the templating ions. This model is applied to the ZSM-5 zeolite framework, where an orthorhombic periodic minimal surface of genus 9 per unit cell can be traced in the aluminosilicate network.