Si liquid NMR and in situ infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the polycondensation process of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in a concentrated aqueous solution of tetrapropylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) at low temperatures. The composition was characterized by a molar hydrolysis ratio (H 2 O/TEOS) of 6 and a molar TPAOH/TEOS ratio of 0.37. The 29 Si NMR spectra and the infrared spectra of the samples recorded at different reaction times and temperatures were assigned to a limited number of specific silicate polyanions containing three and five rings. The structure directing action of tetrapropylammonium cations was evidenced by the formation of silicate polyanions with a curved hydrophobic SiO 2 surface, such as the bicyclic pentamer, pentacyclic octamer, and the tetracyclic undecamer. At room temperature, the polycondensation process leads to the selective formation of a species containing 33 Si atoms. It occluded a tetrapropylammonium molecule and had the same framework connectivity as in bulk MFI zeolite. This TEOS polycondensation process may be relevant for the first steps of the crystallization of MFI type zeolites.

The silica species contained in an aged clear suspension, which upon heating gives rise to the crystallization of Silicalite-1, were extracted with 80% efficiency using a sequence of acidification, salting out, phase transfer into organic solvent, and freeze-drying methods. This silica powder was characterized by X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and 29Si magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance. These techniques gave evidence for the presence of a very specific morphology, corresponding to slab shaped particles, with dimensions of 1.3 × 4.0 × 4.0 nm. The nanoslabs have the MFI structure with nine channel intersections per particle, each containing a TPA cation. The identity of the extracted nanoslabs with the species in suspension is evidenced with in situ and ex situ X-ray scattering.

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