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

Zeolites have a wide range of applications, including catalysis and membrane-based separations. Intergrowth zeolites, in which different framework structures are stacked at the nanoscale, have attracted considerable attention in recent years because they can exhibit superior catalytic and separation performance compared with their single-phase counterparts. Although new intergrowth zeolites are expected to expand the structural diversity of zeolite, it is unclear which framework pairs are promising candidates for intergrowth formation. Here, we developed a high-throughput screening workflow to enumerate coherent, point-defect-free interfacial structure models. Using this workflow, we found that both the interfacial energies of previously reported intergrowth zeolites and the energy differences between their constituent single phases are close to zero. We therefore used these two energetic descriptors to conduct a comprehensive screening of framework pairs. Using these two energetic descriptors, we distinguished nearly all previously reported intergrowths from the other possible framework combinations. Among the candidate pairs identified by the screening, we selected RSN and VSV because of their similar synthesis conditions. We successfully synthesized a previously unreported intergrowth of RSN and VSV, both of which are zincosilicate zeolites containing three-membered rings. Hydrothermal synthesis was conducted under conditions intermediate between those yielding the respective single phases.