Microwave synthesis of zeolite membranes: A review

Significant progress has been achieved in the last years on microwave synthesis of zeolite membranes. In many cases, microwave synthesis has proven to remarkably reduce the synthesis time. In addition, microwave synthesis could also result in different membrane morphology, orientation, composition, and thus the different permeation characteristics as compared with those synthesized by conventional heating. This review attempts to summarize the obtained progress in microwave synthesis of zeolite membranes. Some topics are discussed, including: (1) case study of microwave synthesis of zeolite membranes, e.g. LTA, MFI, AFI, and other types of zeolite membranes; (2) differences between conventional and microwave synthesis; (3) formation mechanism and the so called "specific microwave effect" in the case of microwave synthesis of zeolite membranes; (4) scaling-up of zeolite membrane production by employing microwave heating. The latter three topics are mainly focused on LTA type zeolite membranes. Concluding remarks and future perspective are also suggested in the end. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.