THE INFLUENCE OF IRON IN SYNTHETIC ZEOLITES ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF PERBORATE.

Commercial Grace 4A Zeolite exchanged with Fe**3** plus ions, pumice from different geological flows and their hydrothermally derived zeolites have been characterized as to the distribution and structural configuration of the iron content. Decomposition capacity of perborate (active constituent of detergent formulations) is not only determined by the total Fe content of the zeolite but also by the oxidation state, electron configuration and coordination. For a similar oxygen coordination, structural Fe**2** plus is more active in the decomposition of perborate than Fe**3** plus . Exchanged Fe**3** plus ions of zeolites exhibit higher perborate decomposition capacity than structural Fe**3** plus or the Fe**3** plus of iron oxide.