Clinoptilolite September 9th, 2009
Clinoptilolite is a naturally-occurring zeolite, formed by the devitrification (ie the conversion of glassy material to crystalline material) of volcanic ash in lake and marine waters millions of years ago. It is the most researched of all zeolites and is widely regarded as the most useful. In common with other zeolites, clinoptilolite has a cage-like structure consisting of SiO4 and AlO4 tetrahedra joined by shared oxygen atoms. The negative charges of the AlO4 units are balanced by the presence of exchangeable cations – notably calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium and iron. These ions can be readily displaced by other substances, for example heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, etc..) and ammonium ions. This phenomenon is known as cationic exchange, and it is the very high cationic exchange capacity of clinoptilolite which provides many of its useful properties.
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