One of the experiments Columbia astronauts were scheduled to conduct during their 15 days in space involved a Zeolite Crystal Growth Furnace designed under the direction of Dr. Albert Sacco of the Center for Advanced Microgravity Materials Processing (CAMMP) at Northeastern University in Boston.

Fact Sheet from NASA, 02/01/03

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What is as hard as a rock but works like a sponge?

This isn’t a difficult riddle — such substances, called "zeolites," are actually found throughout nature. Zeolites have a rigid crystalline structure with a network of interconnected tunnels and cages, similar to honeycomb.

But while a sponge needs to be squeezed in order to release water, zeolites only give up their contents when they are heated to expand. The name "zeolite" comes from the Greek words zeo (to boil) and lithos (stone), literally meaning "the rock that boils."

There are nearly 50 different types of naturally occurring zeolites, and they vary in crystal structure, molecular pore size, and chemical composition, among other aspects.

Variations can also occur between zeolites of the same group, due to the different environmental conditions where a zeolite may be found. Impurities in the environment, for instance, can affect how a zeolite forms.

The Center for Advanced Microgravity Materials Processing (CAMMP), a NASA-sponsored Commercial Space Center at Northeastern University in Boston, is working to improve zeolite materials for storing hydrogen fuel.

CAMMP is also applying zeolites to detergents, optical cables, gas and vapor detection for environmental monitoring and control, and chemical production techniques that significantly reduce by-products that are hazardous to the environment.

Zeolites could help us move from an economy that relies on petroleum to one that uses hydrogen for its fuel. Hydrogen would be an infinitely renewable, pollution-free fuel: hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and the main product of hydrogen combustion is H2O (water).

One of the major problems remaining to be solved is the efficient storage of hydrogen, but zeolite and zeo-type materials are being tested as a possible storage medium.

According to Dr. Albert Sacco Jr., director of the Northeastern center, zeolites are a $2 billion-a-year market. Since chemical processing is a trillion-dollar industry worldwide, any improvement in the understanding of zeolite materials could have an enormous economic impact.

More importantly, zeolites could be used in even more ways to make industry safer and less damaging to the environment. Thanks to research in space, the NU center may someday make zeolites more useful than ever before.

Science

A large part of the NU center’s research depends on figuring out the molecular structure of zeolites. Due to the extremely small size of these molecules (2 to 8 microns), it is difficult to get accurate structural information about zeolites.

Such information can be readily achieved, however, if zeolite crystals can be grown 200 to 1,000 times their normal size. The center has discovered that it is possible to grow such large crystals in the microgravity conditions on the space shuttle. Research on the shuttle was an important part of this process.

Commercial investigations will make use of new and improved Zeolite Crystal Growth hardware that has been developed for use on the International Space Station. The hardware consists of sample tubes that hold the components that form zeolites, and a furnace unit used to process the samples.

Operations began with the crew using a cordless screwdriver to mix the component elements in the sample tubes together. The mixing protocol varied with each sample, so that researchers could gain a better understanding of the nucleation process and how to control it.

Once mixing was complete, the samples were placed in the furnace for automated processing. The samples were to be examined after their return to Earth.

When enough is known about these materials to be able to manipulate both the nucleation and growth, the NU center can custom design them for specific applications.

By selectively processing molecules, the center could make chemical processes more energy efficient, and also reduce unwanted chemical by-products. This type of processing ultimately could reduce production costs and pollution.

The center plans to target zeolite membranes toward isomerization, dehydrogenation, and desulfurization: reactions that are critical to the world-wide processing of petroleum and petrochemical products. In addition, novel applications are being developed to use zeolite membranes to separate and purify gases and liquids for pollution control.