Sustainable low-energy mechanochemical transformation of natural zeolite to quartz: structural evolution and dielectric properties


AJJAQ A., Cura O., ORUÇ P., ÇAVDAR Ş., ACAR S.

CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL, cilt.52, sa.5, ss.6771-6782, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 52 Sayı: 5
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2025.12.426
  • Dergi Adı: CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Compendex, INSPEC
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.6771-6782
  • Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In this study, we demonstrate a sustainable mechanochemical route for transforming natural clinoptilolite-type zeolite into a quartz silica phase through prolonged low-energy planetary ball milling under ambient conditions, without thermal input or chemical additives. Structural and compositional analyses reveal a shear-induced phase transformation that initiates at similar to 16 h and becomes essentially complete by 32-48 h, accompanied by progressive particle refinement (to similar to 2-3 mu m), densification, preferential dealumination, and a marked increase in the Si/Al ratio, as corroborated by FE-SEM/EDS analyses conducted over multiple regions. Thermal analysis confirms continuous dehydration and a systematic rise in activation energy to similar to 95-101 kJ mol(-1) in the milled quartz phase, indicating enhanced structural stability. Beyond lattice reorganization, the transformation produces a pronounced shift in functional behavior: the pristine zeolite's high-loss, ion-dominated dielectric response is replaced by the highly resistive, low-permittivity, and low-loss characteristics of the quartz-like product, which remain stable from room temperature up to 700 K. This combined structural and dielectric evolution highlights the effectiveness of low-energy mechanochemistry in enabling shear-driven phase engineering and in tuning dielectric performance without thermal processing. Collectively, these findings provide new insight into environmentally benign and scalable routes for producing low-loss insulating materials and next-generation functional ceramics.