Conversion of coal wastes into waste-cleaning materials. Quarterly report, October 1--December 31, 1996

Abstract

Besides working on the conversion of fly ash to zeolites, we have been studying the possibility of converting fly ash to mesoporous molecular sieves. It was reported in previous reports that fly ash can participate in the formation of mesoporous materials. However, fly ash has not been converted to mesoporous materials directly. In the last report, we showed that by fusing the fly ash with sodium hydroxide, the yield of zeolites increased significantly. The fusion process increases the amount of silicates and aluminates that are dissolved in the precursor solutions. Therefore, in the last three months, we have been studying the conversion of fly ash into mesoporous materials using the fusion process. As expected, we succeeded in converting fly ash into mesoporous molecular sieves. Due to their uniform molecular pore sizes and large surface areas, the mesoporous materials are very useful materials for a wide range of applications such as molecular sieves, adsorbents, and catalysts. Therefore converting fly ash into mesoporous materials not only eliminates the disposal problem but also turns an otherwise waste material into a useful one. The successful conversion of fly ash into mesoporous molecular sieves broadens the possible application of fly ash.