Low-temperature synthesis of zeolite from perlite waste — Part II: characteristics of the products

The paper investigates the properties of sodium zeolites synthesized using the hydrothermal method under autogenous pressure at low temperature with NaOH solutions of varying concentrations. During this modification, zeolites X, Na-P1 and hydroxysodalite were synthesized. The synthesis parameters, and thus, phase composition of resulting samples, significantly affected the specific surface area (SSA) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). SSA increased from 2.9 m2/g to a maximum of 501.2 m2/g, while CEC rose from 16 meq/100 g to a maximum of 500 meq/100 g. The best properties for use as a sorbent were obtained for perlite waste modified with 4.0 M NaOH at 70 °C or 80 °C.