Preparation of molecular sieve from natural pyrophyllite and characterization of its Al/Si ratio, crystal structure, and Porosity

Pyrophyllite is one abundant mineral in Indonesia which has not been optimally processed. Hence, this study further processed natural pyrophyllite to be an advanced material usable for industrial sector as a molecular sieve (MS). Natural pyrophyllitewas chosen due to its ability to filter gas or liquid selectively. The MS made from natural pyrophyllite was prepared by using a simple method, in short time and with less cost via leaching process. NaOH was varied to 10 M (MS1), 15 M (MS2), and 20 M (MS3) of molarity. Such solution was subsequently dissolved in distilled water and followed by decantation and filtration processes to obtain the deposit. Eventually, the deposit was drained to form MS powders. The BET characterization showed that the respective surface areas of MS1, MS2, and MS3 are 0.350 m²/g, 2.869 m²/g, and 1.176 m²/g with the pore sizes of 30Å, 542 Å, and 550 Å, respectively. The XRF characterization results showed that the Al/Si ratio of MS10, MS15, and MS20 are 2.4, 2.2, and 2.3, respectively. Meanwhile, the XRD investigation pointed out that the primary phase of MS10 and MS15 samples wassodalite with cubic crystal system, quartz with hexagonal crystal system, and diaspore with orthorhombic crystal system, while the MS20 phase was pure in the form of sodalite phase. Moreover, the results of FITR characterization showed that the synthesized MS has a functional group of Si-O-Si bending, Si-O-Al, Si-O, Si-O normal to the plane stretching, inner surface Al-OH deformation, Si-O-Si siloxine, H-O-H, -OH, C-H stretching, and H-O-H bending water.