The synergistic development of electron crystallography and zeolite discovery

Abstract

During the past decades, the advancement of new electron crystallographic techniques has made important impacts for the discovery of novel zeolites. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) imaging directly reveals detailed structural features in zeolites, which is especially useful for studying disordered materials. 3D atomic structures of new zeolites are determined by combining HRTEM images along several projections. Electron diffraction techniques have evolved from 2D zonal-axis electron diffraction to 3D electron diffraction (3D ED), which has transformed a TEM into a single nanocrystal diffractometer for structural elucidation. The development of electron crystallography parallels the discovery of novel zeolites, where Corma's research group has played the key role and contributed to at least 30 zeolite frameworks in the Database of Zeolite Structures. Herein, we present how the ITQ zeolite materials developed by Corma's group pushed the development of electron crystallographic techniques, and how the new 3D ED techniques accelerated the discovery of novel zeolites. During the past 7 years, nearly 80% of new zeolite structures have been determined by electron crystallography. Detailed atomic structural information has been revealed from nano- and micrometer-sized crystals of extra-large pore zeolites, disordered zeolites, and low-dimensional zeolites such as nanotubes and nanosheets.