Novel germanate zeolite structures with 3-rings

The limited success in the formation of silicate-based 3-ring structures may be due to the short Si-O bond distance and the corresponding large T-O-T angles that do not favor the highly stressed 3-ring configuration relative to rings of bigger sizes. To produce new 3-ring structures, the geometrical factors for reducing the stress found in a 3-ring structure have to be considered. The first 3-ring-containing germanates have been synthesized and their structures are shown.