Charge interaction of low generation dendrimers during zeolite formation

A Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) investigation has been performed to study the self-assembly process generated by the addition of a low generation G1.5 polyamidoamine dendrimer during the zeolite LTA formation process. The presence of a condensed cationic Na+ charge all around the dendrimers, which is responsible for the intense electrostatic interparticle interaction potential, stimulate the condensed growth of the zeolitic phase onto the dendrimer substrate. The screening produced by the zeolite grown on the dendrimer surface promote also an entanglement process between the primary units with the formation of large clusters as evidenced by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microprobe spectroscopy experiments. The current investigation emphasizes the potentials of using hybrid organic-inorganic networks in the synthetic construction of functional materials with high-order structures for application in material science and biotechnology.