Synthesis and characterization of zeolite-Y from natural clay of Wadi Hagul, Egypt

Abstract

Zeolites were synthesized from alternative cheap raw material as clay minerals which used as a common source for Al2O3 and SiO2 for synthesis zeolite-Y. Synthetic zeolite-Y has many characteristics, high purity and larger cavities that distinguish it from its counterparts. This study concerned with evaluation of the viability of producing low-silica zeolite through the process of hydrothermal calcination (metakaolinization) of raw material (kaolin) from Wadi Hagul, Egypt at 800oC for 6 h. Metakaolinite was synthesized under hydrothermal treatment with 1.0 M NaOH solution without additional any catalysts as silica source at 90oC/2d under atmospheric pressure. Zeolite Na-Y of molar ratio of 2.23 was achieved. The Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) test showed an impressive value of 401.09 meq/ 100 g clay for prepared zeolite-Y. The raw kaolin, metakaolin and zeolite were characterized by XRF, XRD and SEM. The results confirmed that Zeolite was successfully produced from the raw material extracted from Wadi Hagul with an ideal percentage which approximately equal to 100% of the raw material used. The synthetic zeolite-y can be applied for remediation of wastewater and polluted soil.