Preparation and Characterization of Chabazite from Construction Waste and Application as an Adsorbent for Methylene Blue

Abstract

Construction waste, produced from building projects, was utilized to prepare chabazite by alkali fusion hydrothermal synthesis method. The synthesized chabazite was used as an adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB). XRD, FTIR, and N2 adsorption/desorption curves were adopted to describe the physical and chemical properties of the samples. The results show that the synthesized chabazite possesses crystalline structure, typical functional groups, and large specific surface area of 421.34 m2 g-1. Adsorption isotherms and kinetic curves show that the adsorption process follows the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetics model. The maximum adsorption capacity of MB on the synthesized chabazite reaches up to 129.18 mg g-1 at 298 K, which is about 16 times that of construction waste. The removal rate of MB reaches more than 90%, and the adsorbed amount is about 35 mg g-1 after 1 h at 298 K. Thermodynamic parameters, namely ΔH, ΔS, and ΔG of -12.83 kJ mol-1, -27.37 J mol-1 K-1, and -4.68 kJ mol-1 at 298 K, respectively, indicate that the adsorption of MB on the chabazite is physical, orderliness-tended, and spontaneous process. Moreover, the synthesized chabazite has a good property of regeneration and reuse. The results indicate that using construction waste to prepare chabazite in application as an adsorbent is feasible, which provides a novel and environment-friendly way for recycling construction waste.