Aluminosilicate

An aluminosilicate is a compound or material containing aluminum, silicon, and oxygen, often with other elements. Aluminosilicates are abundant in Earth’s crust and form many minerals and synthetic materials.

Silicate mineral: A mineral built from silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, alone or linked into larger structures. Aluminosilicates are a major family within silicate minerals.
Zeolite: A crystalline, porous aluminosilicate with a framework of linked silicon- and aluminum-centered tetrahedra. Zeolites are aluminosilicates whose frameworks create molecular-scale channels and cavities.
Fluid catalytic cracking: A petroleum-refining process that converts heavy hydrocarbons into lighter products using a circulating catalyst. Synthetic zeolite aluminosilicates provide active, selective catalyst sites in many cracking units.
Orthoclase: A potassium-rich feldspar mineral with the composition KAlSi₃O₈. Orthoclase is a common, compositionally simple example of a feldspar aluminosilicate.
Silicon–oxygen tetrahedron: A structural unit with one silicon atom surrounded by four oxygen atoms. Its linked forms provide the framework of most aluminosilicates.
Cation-exchange capacity: The quantity of positively charged ions a material can reversibly exchange per unit mass. Negatively charged aluminosilicate frameworks can hold and exchange compensating cations.
Water softening: Treatment that reduces dissolved calcium and magnesium ions in water. Zeolites can soften water by exchanging sodium ions for hardness-causing ions.
Plagioclase: A feldspar mineral series ranging from sodium-rich albite to calcium-rich anorthite. Its substitution series shows how changing cations and aluminum content produces related aluminosilicates.
Isomorphous substitution: Replacement of one ion by another of similar size in a crystal structure. Aluminum commonly replaces silicon in tetrahedral sites, changing framework charge.
Molecular sieve: A porous material that separates molecules according to their size or shape. Precisely sized aluminosilicate pores can admit some molecules while excluding others.

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