A METHOD OF COMMINUTING NATURAL
ZEOLITE FOR THE PRODUCTION
OF BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE ADDITIVES
K. S. Golokhvast,
1
A. M. Panichev,
2
I. Yu. Chekryzhov,
3
and M. I. Kusaikin
4
Translated from Khimiko-Farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 37 – 40, February, 2010.
Original article submitted July 24, 2008.
This article describes a method of grinding a solid mineral material (zeolite), which can be used in medical ap
-
plications, for the preparation of starting components for biologically active additives. Our method of prepar
-
ing a solid natural material includes mechanical grinding, ultrasound comminution, and grading of natural ze
-
olite. It differs from previously described methods in that material already ground mechanically to particle
sizes of 5 – 20 mm is subjected to comminution and this process continues until particles of 1 – 2 to 10 mm are
obtained. Zeolite particles obtained after processing in the homogenizer have greater roundness and smaller
sizes than those obtained by mechanical crushing. Furthermore, our ultrasound method of comminuting
zeolites also reduces the comminution process time by factors of 1.5 – 12.
Key words: Zeolites, ultrasound comminution, clinoptilolite.
Various aspects of zeolites have been studied in great de-
tail in recent years, from technical specialties [1, 2] to bio-
medical uses [3 – 11]. Throughout the world, including Rus-
sia, a number of biologically active additives and sorbents
based on zeolites are produced, such as Megamin, Lithovit,
Litoplast, Zeosorb, and Bactistatin. As natural zeolites are
quite hard aluminosilicate materials, we are presented with
the unusually important technical problem of comminution,
which is required to increase the working surface.
Zeolites are non-stoichiometric compounds whose com
-
position varies over a wide range, forming series of solid so
-
lutions. More than 40 mineral forms of natural zeolites are
known. The most common are:
Analcime Na[AlSi
2
O
6
] × H
2
O;
Heulandite Ca
4
[Al
8
Si
28
O
72
] × 24H
2
O
Clinoptilolite Na
6
[Al
6
Si
30
O
72
] × 20H
2
O
Laumontite Ca
4
[Al
8
Si
16
O
48
] × 16H
2
O
Mordenite Na
8
[Al
8
Si
40
O
96
] × 28H
2
O
Phillipsite (0.5 Ca, Na, K)
6
[Al
6
Si
10
O
32
] × 12H
2
O
Faujasite Na
13
Ca
12
Mg
11
[Al
59
Si
133
O
384
] × 235H
2
O
Chabazite Ca
2
[A
4
Si
8
O
24
] × 12H
2
O
Erionite (K
2
, Ca, Mg, Na)4.5[Al
8
Si
27
O
72
] × 28H
2
O
One reported method for comminuting zeolite includes
fragmentation of the material to a particle size of 5 – 10 mm
and drying in a flow of air with a temperature of no greater
than 70°C. This is followed by repeated comminution of the
material to a mean particle size of 0.1 mm and repeated dry
-
ing in a flow of air at the same temperature, mixing of the
product with a ferromagnetic powder with a particle size of
1.0 – 50.0 mm at ratios of 1:1 to 2:1, followed by
comminution of the product in a jet mill in the presence of
the ferromagnetic powder to form an ultradisperse material
with a particle size of 0.1 – 30 mm and a moisture content of
no more than 2% by weight, followed by removal of the fer
-
romagnetic powder from the mixture using a constant mag
-
netic field and packaging of the resulting powder material in
a vacuum pack [12]. However, this technology is quite com
-
plex and involves a large number of operations; it reduces the
quality of the final product because it is virtually impossible
to obtain complete removal of the ferromagnetic particles,
the residues contaminating the final product. In addition,
there are some losses of the ultradisperse powder when the
ferromagnetic powder is removed, as particles of the material
stick to them. The quality of the ultradisperse powder de
-
85
0091-150X/10/4402-085 © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
Pharmaceutical Chemistry Journal Vol. 44, No. 2, 2010
1
Oil and Gas Institute, Far Eastern State Technical University, Vladivostok,
Russia.
2
Pacific Ocean Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Acad
-
emy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.
3
Far Eastern Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Vladivostok, Russia.
4
Pacific Ocean Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Far Eastern Branch, Rus
-
sian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia.