Transformation of Indonesian Natural Zeolite into Analcime Phase under Hydrothermal Condition

Abstract

Natural zeolite is abundantly available in Indonesia and well distributed especially in the volcano area like Java, Sumatera, and Sulawesi. So far, natural zeolite from Klaten, Central Java is one of the most interesting zeolites has been widely studied. This research aims to know the effect of seed-assisted synthesis under a hydrothermal condition at 120 °C for 24 hours of Klaten’s zeolite toward the structural change and phase transformation of the original structure. According to XRD and XRF analysis, seed-assisted synthesis through the addition of aluminosilicate mother solution has transformed Klaten’s zeolite which contains (mordenite and clinoptilolite) into analcime type with decreasing Si/Al ratio from 4.51 into 1.38. Morphological analysis using SEM showed the shape changes from irregular into spherical looks like takraw ball in the range of 0.3 to 0.7 micrometer. Based on FTIR data, structure of TO4 site (T = Si or Al) was observed in the range of 300-1300 cm-1 and the occupancy of Brønsted acid site as OH stretching band from silanol groups was detected at 3440-3650 cm-1. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis confirmed that transformation Klaten’s zeolite into analcime type has decreased the surface area from 55.41 to 22.89 m2/g and showed inhomogeneous pore distribution which can be classified as micro-mesoporous aluminosilicate materials.