Silver and copper nanostructures within the erionite regular lattice: interplay between intra- and extra-crystalline location

In the two metal–zeolite systems (Ag–erionite and Cu–erionite), we demonstrate the optical features of metal species incorporated. These two systems are very different in the optical appearance, but rather similar in X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the reduced forms. Ag8 clusters within the regular intra-crystalline erionite voids provide the pronounced absorption peaks in UV; other species are associated with the silver nanoparticles ordered in the erionite matrix. In the case of copper, the plasmon resonance band is developed by the metal nanoparticles. No any additional ordering was observed for copper–erionite samples.