Many emerging applications of zeolite materials require precise control of particle size and morphology, and therefore the development of synthetic strategies for the control of particle and crystal size and morphology of zeolites is increasingly important. In recent years, the synthesis of nanozeolites as a consequent of the increased importance of nanotechnology has received much attention. The synthesis of nanoparticles of zeolites can be used for the production of ultra-thin zeolite films on the membranes, in catalysis due to their higher surface to volume ratios, as an ideal model system for the study of zeolite crystallization mechanism. One of the most important zeolite frameworks is A-type zeolite which has found the first application of the zeolite membrane in the commercial scale. Hydrophilic properties, high cation exchange capacity and the small pore size network are the advantages of A-type zeolite in comparison with the other zeolite framework types. Therefore, synthesis of this kind of zeolite particles in submicron and nanometric scales is necessary to increase considerably their performance in separation, ion exchange, catalytic processes, etc.

The synthesis of nanozeolites has been usually performed at the lowest possible temperature, which results in a relatively long synthesis time. Also, the drawback of the majority of synthesis procedures for producing A-type zeolite nanocrystals is generally that large amounts of the comparatively expensive organic template have to be employed. So, for commercializing of the production of A-type zeolite nanoparticles it is highly desirable to develop the more economic and low-cost synthesis method. Then, the main aim of this research was the investigation of the most effective parameters on the synthesis of A-type zeolite. For this mean, the effects of organic template, aging time, reactant sources and crystallization time and temperature on the crystallinity, morphology and seeds size of the synthesized zeolites were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed a new trend for the effect of organic template on the structural properties of A-type zeolite. Addition of organic template to the synthesis mixture decreases the average particles size dramatically. Increasing the template content causes to high crystallinity of the synthesized zeolite particles and finally, further increasing of template does not favor the formation of pure phase of LTA. For the reduction of process cost, aging time due to its great effect on the decreasing average zeolite particles size can be proper candidate for replacing the expensive organic template in the synthesis of A-type zeolite nanoparticles. However, applying organic template and aging time simultaneously, results in a formation of zeolite particles with narrow particle size distribution. Using silica sol as a silica source, due to its more solubility, causes to form smaller zeolite particles. For obtaining zeolite seeds with fine particles and suitable crystallinity, an optimum value for the synthesis time and temperature is proposed 24 h and 60 °C, respectively. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis for two samples with different particle size (coarse and fine particles) with and without ion exchanging, confirmed the high cation exchange capacity of A-type zeolite.