Zeolite LTA Nanoparticles Prepared by Laser-Induced Fracture of

J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 83-89

83

Zeolite LTA Nanoparticles Prepared by Laser-Induced Fracture of Zeolite Microcrystals William T. Nichols,*,† Tetsuya Kodaira,† Yukichi Sasaki,‡ Yoshiki Shimizu,† Takeshi Sasaki,† and Naoto Koshizaki† Nanoarchitectonics Research Center, National Institute of AdVanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan, and Japan Fine Ceramics Center, 2-4-1 Mutsuno, Atsuta-ku, Nagoya 456-8587, Japan ReceiVed: September 2, 2005

Zeolite LTA nanoparticles are prepared by laser-induced fragmentation of zeolite LTA microparticles using a pulsed laser. Zeolite nanoparticle formation is attributed to absorption of the laser at impurities or defects within the zeolite microcrystal generating thermoelastic stress that mechanically fractures the microparticle into smaller nanoparticle fragments. Experimentally, it is found that nanoparticles have a wide size and morphology distribution. Large nanoparticles (>200 nm) are typically irregularly shaped crystals of zeolite LTA, whereas small nanoparticles (200 nm, region A) tend to be irregularly shaped displaying sharp edges, while the smallest particles (