Sodium aluminosilicate refers to compounds which contain

sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

silicon Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ta ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

, and which may also contain water. These include synthetic amorphous sodium aluminosilicate, a few naturally occurring minerals and synthetic

zeolite Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ･y where is either a metal ion or H+. These p ...

s. 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 it is not strictly a chemical compound with a fixed stoichiometry. One supplier quotes a typical analysis for one of their products as 14SiO₂·Al₂O₃·Na₂O·3H₂O,(Na₂Al₂Si₁₄O₃₂·3H₂O). The US

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

has as of April 1, 2012 approved ''sodium aluminosilicate (sodium silicoaluminate)'' for direct contact with consumable items under 21 CFR 182.2727. Sodium aluminosilicate is used as

molecular sieve A molecular sieve is a material with pores (very small holes) of uniform size. These pore diameters are similar in size to small molecules, and thus large molecules cannot enter or be adsorbed, while smaller molecules can. As a mixture of molecu ...

in medicinal containers to keep contents dry. 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 sometimes called sodium aluminosilicate

Naturally occurring minerals that are sometimes given the chemical name, sodium aluminosilicate include

albite Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the plagioclase solid solution series. It represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content. The pure albite endmember has the formula . It is a tectosilicate ...

(NaAlSi₃O₈, an end-member of the

plagioclase Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series, more pro ...

series) and jadeite (NaAlSi₂O₆).

Synthetic zeolites sometimes called sodium aluminosilicate

Synthetic zeolites have complex structures and examples (with structural formulae) are: *Na₁₂Al₁₂Si₁₂O₄₈·27H₂O, zeolite A (Linde type A sodium form, NaA), used in laundry detergentsAlan Dyer, (1994),''Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry'', ed R. Bruce King, John Wiley & Sons, *Na₁₆Al₁₆Si₃₂O₉₆·16H₂O, Analcime, IUPAC code ANA *Na₁₂Al₁₂Si₁₂O₄₈·q H₂O, Losod"Formation and Properties of Losod, a New Sodium Zeolite", Werner Sieber, Walter M. Meie ''Helvetica Chimica Acta'', Volume 57 Issue 6, pp. 1533–1549, 10.1002/hlca.19740570608 *Na₃₈₄Al₃₈₄Si₃₈₄O₁₅₃₆·518H₂O, Linde type N

References

{{reflist Inorganic compounds Sodium compounds Aluminosilicates Zeolites Food additives E-number additives