What is it about?
Zeolites are an important class of "nanoporous crystals" -- used extensively as shape-selective catalysts in the chemical industry. We are using computers in the present study to learn how to synthesize zeolites more rapidly than previously thought possible.
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Why is it important?
We are using a method in artificial intelligence (AI) called machine learning to learn what makes two distinct computer simulations (previously published) give different results regarding the time it takes to synthesize zeolites. This is the first time that AI has been used to help us understand the results from a computer simulation of zeolite formation.
Perspectives
We're interested in this because nanoporous crystals have been the best way to refine crude oil into useful products since the 1960s, and these solids show promise for more environmentally friendly uses. The problem is that we don't understand how these crystals form, so we can't make "tailor made" crystals for target uses. The hope is that work like ours can teach us the "rules of the game" for making zeolites, allowing new versions with advanced properties to be made for applications like carbon sequestration -- a critical approach for slowing down climate change.
Scott Auerbach
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Data science shows that entropy correlates with accelerated zeolite crystallization in Monte Carlo simulations, The Journal of Chemical Physics, December 2024, American Institute of Physics,
DOI: 10.1063/5.0238061.
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