Surface structure of synthesized mordenite crystal studied by atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to examine the surface structure of synthesized mordenite (MOR) crystals, which are zeolites. It is the first time that atomic-scale imaging resolved the ordered pore structure of the (001) surface of MOR, revealing 12-membered rings that play an important role in shape-selective catalysis. We also confirmed a previous hypothesis that the resolution of an AFM image of zeolite is significantly affected by the magnitude of periodical corrugation on the crystal surface. This work demonstrates that AFM is able to resolve directly the pore structure that governs the performance of shape-selective catalysis.