Microwave-assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanosized SAPO-34 Molecular sieves

Employing microwave energy as a novel technique in reducing crystallization time and crystal size for the fabrication of zeolites has attracted many researchers in the past decade. In this study, nanosized SAPO-34 molecular sieve was synthesized using tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) as a structure-directing agent by microwave irradiation and conventional heating at crystallization temperature of 200°C. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). The effect of the crystallization time on the synthesis of nanosized SAPO-34 molecular sieves was investigated. According to XRD and SEM results, decreasing the crystallization time produced smaller and more uniform SAPO-34 crystals.