Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of Zeolite A Using Amorphous Gel from Industrial Reagents

Abstract

Zeolites are crystalline microporous aluminosilicate of alkali metals and alkaline-earth metals. These materials have large commercial application due to their physical and chemical properties. The synthesis of zeolite A was carried out based on procedures described by International Zeolite Association (IZA), the sodium silicate was used as a source of silicon and the sodium aluminate as a source of aluminum for the produced zeolite. The synthesis occurred at hydrothermal conditions through static autoclaving. The material formed was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results obtained from the characterization analysis were satisfactory and the method of synthesis showed to have high reproducibility in the production of zeolite A with good crystallinity as predominant phase. This result is very interesting because this method is simple and did not use toxic organic compounds as templates.