Sodium aluminosilicate

Sodium aluminosilicate is an acid salt comprising sodium, aluminium, silicon and oxygen. These include synthetic amorphous sodium aluminosilicate, a few naturally occurring minerals and synthetic zeolites. Synthetic amorphous sodium aluminosilicate is widely used as a food additive, E-554.

Amorphous sodium aluminosilicate

This substance is produced with a wide range of compositions and has many different applications. It is encountered as an additive E-554 in food where it acts as an anticaking (free flow) agent.
As it is manufactured with a range of compositions (see [1] and so is not strictly a chemical compound with a fixed stoichiometry, one supplier ( [2] ) quotes a typical analysis for one of their products as 14SiO₂.Al₂O₃.Na₂O.3H₂O,( Na₂Al₂Si₁₄ O₃₂.3H₂O).

Sodium aluminosilicate may also be listed as:

• aluminium sodium salt,
• sodium silicoaluminate,
• aluminosilicic acid, sodium salt,
• sodium aluminium silicate,
• aluminum sodium silicate
• sodium silico aluminate
• sasil

Minerals

Naturally occurring minerals which are sometimes given the chemical name, sodium aluminosilicate include albite (NaAlSi₃O₈, an end-member of the plagioclase series) and jadeite (NaAlSi₂O₆).

Synthetic zeolites

Synthetic zeolites have complex structures and examples (with structural formulae) are:

Na₁₂Al₁₂Si₁₂O₄₈.27H₂O, zeolite A ( Linde type A sodium form, NaA) which is used in laundry detergents.^[1]

Na₁₆Al₁₆Si₃₂O₉₆.16H₂O, Analcime, IUPAC code ANA.^[1]

Na₁₂Al₁₂Si₁₂O₄₈·q H2O Losod ^[2] Na₃₈₄Al₃₈₄Si₃₈₄O₁₅₃₆.518H₂O, Linde type N

References