One-step hydrothermal synthesis of zeolite KA from kaolin

Abstract

This work reports an experimental investigation on the synthesis of zeolite KA by one-step hydrothermal method using kaolin as the main SiO2 and Al2O3 sources. The phase, structure, microscopic morphology, microstructure, specific surface area, and thermal stability of the produced zeolite KA were characterised in detail. The zeolite KA was successfully synthesised and the characterisation of the obtained material was carried out considering different techniques, including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and thermogravimetric differential thermal analyser (TG-DSC). TEM analysis indicated the formation of body-centred cubic crystal zeolite KA and the polycrystallinity of the zeolite KA structure. The BET study confirmed that a total surface area of 13.2771 m2 g−1, micropore surface area of 1.3598 m2 g−1 and micropore volume of 0.000556 cm3 g−1 are obtained. In addition, the thermal stability of the zeolite KA was further studied by TG-DSC.