Specific Electrical Conductivity of Natural Syrian and Armenian Zeolites

The direct current (dc) conductivity of several natural Syrian and Armenian zeolitic samples is measured in order to understand the mechanism of electrical conductivity in these materials. The influence of the sample's water content on its electrical conductivity is studied in details. We find that with the increase of hydration time or, equivalently, the increase of water content in the sample, the electrical conductivity of the samples increases up to a definite moment at which the increase stops. This moment is characteristic of each sample and it corresponds to the saturation state which means the state where the hydration process is finished and that the sample has reached its equilibrium state corresponding to an air-dried sample. We compare our results with available experimental data of relatively other materials and find that they agree in general.