Crystal structure and dehydration behaviour of Ag+-exchanged levyne

Levyne is a natural zeolite Ca2.53Na0.72K0.23(Al6.26Si11.8O36)·17.58H2O with LEV framework type. The structure can be described by a sequence of single six-membered rings (S6R) and double six-membered rings (D6R) stacked along the c axis with AABCCABBCAA sequence [1,2]. This sequence originates columns along [001] of [496583] polyhedra (levyne cages) alternating with [4662] polyhedra (double six-rings). Two-dimensionally interconnected channels (free diameters 3.6 × 4.8 Å) confined by eight-membered rings run perpendicular to [001]. In this study we investigated the crystal structure and thermal stability of a Ag-exchanged levyne by using a multimethodological approach.