日本ゼオライト学会　刊行物 Publication of Japan Zeolite Association

Normally, zeolites, being porous, catalyze reactions on their internal surfaces, so the shape and surface area of the outer surface are not considered. However, large molecules, such as polymers, cannot penetrate the internal zeolite vacancies, so reactions occur only on the outer surface. Zeolite nanosheets are highly dispersible particles with extremely small thickness, large outer surface area, and more than 100 times wider than their thickness, making them easy to separate and suitable for reuse. Traditionally, nanosheets have been synthesized by exfoliation of layered compounds, but recently, more and more examples of nanosheets of non-exfoliable materials have been reported. By using various interfaces and layered structures as templates, bottom-up nanosheet synthesis becomes possible. In this paper, we introduce the nanosheet synthesis method using liquid crystals as templates that the authors have recently developed. As an example, the synthesis of amorphous aluminosilicate nanosheets and zeolite nanosheets using amorphous aluminosilicate as a precursor and their catalytic properties are also described.