Synthesis of zeolite 4A from kaolin and its adsorption equilibrium of carbon dioxide

Abstract

Zeolite 4A was successfully prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using low-grade kaolin as a raw material. The properties of the synthesized zeolite 4A were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), 29Si magic-angle spinning (MAS)-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and 27Al MAS-NMR, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), thermogravimetry (TG)-differential thermal analysis (DTA), and carbon dioxide adsorption analysis. The textural properties of the synthesized zeolite 4A was further studied by BET analysis technique. The thermal stability analysis showed that the heat resistance of the synthesized zeolite 4A is up to 940 °C. In addition, it is found that the Langmuir model has the best agreement with the adsorption equilibrium data for carbon dioxide by synthesized zeolite 4A and commercial zeolite 4A. Meanwhile, the carbon dioxide adsorption analysis confirmed that the maximum equilibrium adsorption amount of carbon dioxide on synthesized zeolite 4A is 59.3820 mL/g, which is higher than the 55.4303 mL/g of the commercial zeolite 4A.