Investigation of Nanoparticles Occurring in the Colloidal Silicalite-1 Zeolite Crystallization Process Using Dissolution Experiments

In concentrated clear sol prepared from tetraethylorthosilicate, tetrapropylammonium hydroxide, and water suitable for crystallization of Silicalite-1 zeolite, the main part of the silica is present in nanoparticles. The nature of these nanoparticles and their evolution during the induction period and the stage of early crystal growth was investigated via dissolution experiments in the presence of excess TPAOH. The dissolution process was monitored in situ using static and dynamic light scattering (SLS/DLS) and synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The complete dissolution of an individual nanoparticle was observed to occur in one step. Dissolution transformed a nanoparticle into a cluster of silicate oligomers. Larger grown nanoparticles dissolved slower. Exponential dissolution rate constants scaled inversely proportional with the volume of the nanoparticle’s silica core. This experimentally observed dissolution behavior was modeled by assuming that a nanoparticle dissolved to oligomers via a series of partially dissolved nanoparticles that correspond to metastable intermediate states of increasing free energy. The resulting free energy barrier that has to be overcome by a dissolving nanoparticle could be derived from the experimental input. The idealized free energy profile provided a qualitative explanation for the apparent instantaneous disintegration of entire nanoparticles.