Abstract
Zeolite A has been successfully synthesized from coal fly ash by using fusion followed by hydrothermal method. This paper describes the characterization of zeolite A. The effects of hydrothermal time, Si/Al molar ratio, and alkalinity in the converting coal fly ash to zeolite A were also investigated. The coal fly ash was obtained from a local power plant at East Java, Indonesia and contained major oxides such as SiO2 (18.60 wt%), Al2O3 (7.18 wt%), Fe2O3 (40.20 wt%), CaO (25.20 wt%). The fusion hydrothermal method consists of the following steps: pre-treatment, fusion of coal fly ash with sodium hydroxide, aging, and hydrothermal process. The synthesized material was characterized by using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and specific surface area analytical method. The results show that the products contain zeolite A as the major phase, while the highest specific surface area of zeolite A is 37.121 m2/g. It implies that zeolite A as a higher value added product can be obtained from a solid waste/by-product of power plant, which has wide range applications, including for ion exchange and heavy metal adsorbent from waste water.
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