High Resolution Electron Microscopy studies of the degradation process of the calcium A zeolite

Abstract

The change from the crystalline to the amorphous state of the sodium A zeolite, has been investigated by Bursill and by Thomas. From individual HREM pictures those authors suggest three different mechanisms responsible for the degradation process. In the present work the degradation of the calcium A zeolite, characterized also by Auger spectroscopy, was studied by HREM methods. The sample was under thermal treatment at 450°C during four hours in a vacuum line after which it was mounted in the microscope in a nitrogen atmosphere.