DOI: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.20445

Preparation and Characterization of Zeolite A Synthesized from Narathiwat White Clay

1School of Materials Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand

2Synchrotron Light Research Institute, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand

Received: 16 Jul 2025; Revised: 18 Aug 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025; Available online: 26 Aug 2025; Published: 31 Oct 2025.
Editor(s): Istadi Istadi
Open Access Copyright (c) 2025 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Fulltext View|Download

Citation Format:
Cover Image
Abstract

Zeolite A is a widely used synthetic zeolite known for its high ion-exchange capacity and molecular sieving properties. This study explored the synthesis of zeolite A using Narathiwat white clay as a raw material. White clay, primarily composed of kaolinite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4), is considered a cost-effective source of aluminum and silicon for zeolite synthesis. The process involves the transformation of kaolinite into metakaolin via calcination, followed by hydrothermal crystallization under controlled conditions from natural white clay without conventional high-temperature calcination. Synthesized zeolite was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy to determine the elemental composition of the raw white clay and the synthesized zeolite A, while Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to confirm its structure and purity. Furthermore, the influence of the NaOH solution and the stability temperature of zeolite A are shown in this research. The optimum conditions for achieving zeolite A were calcined at 600 °C for 3 h in the first step, followed by using autoclaves at 200 °C for 24 h with a 3 M NaOH solution. The SEM results indicated that the Narathiwat white clay could be used to synthesize zeolite A, which exhibited a cubic morphology consisting primarily of silicon and aluminum. Notably, the crystallinity was influenced by the concentration of the NaOH solution employed. Moreover, the XRD and FTIR results demonstrate the feasibility of synthesizing high-quality zeolite A. Copyright © 2025 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Keywords: Kaolinite; Hydrothermal synthesis; Autoclaves; Zeolite A
Funding: Suranaree University of Technology; Synchrotron Light Research Institute

Article Metrics:

Article Info
Section: Original Research Articles
Language : EN
Recent articles
Kinetics Model and Optimization for Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue over Ag/TiO2 Catalyst Oxidative Oligomerization of Fischer–Tropsch Internal Olefins Catalyzed by Metal Octoates of s, p and d Block Elements Eco-Friendly Photocatalyst from Limestone: ZnO-Hydroxyapatite Composite for Efficient Rhodamine B Removal Frontmatter (Front Cover, Editorial Team, Indexing, and Table of Contents) Backmatter (Publication Ethics, Right Transfer Agreement for Publishing Form) More recent articles
  1. Lin, Q.-F., Gao, Z.R., Lin, C., Zhang, S., Chen, J., Li, Z., Liu, X., Fan, W., Li, J., Chen, X., Camblor, M.A., Chen, F.-J. (2021). A stable aluminosilicate zeolite with intersecting three-dimensional extra-large pores. Science, 374 (6575), 1605–1608. DOI: 10.1126/science.abk3258
  2. Chen, K., Mousavi, S. H., Singh, R., Snurr, R. Q., Li, G., Webley, P. A. (2022). Gating effect for gas adsorption in microporous materials – mechanisms and applications. Chemical Society Reviews, 51 (3), 1139–1166. DOI: 10.1039/D1CS00822F
  3. Liu, X., Wang, C., Zhou, J., Liu, C., Liu, Z., Shi, J., Wang, Y., Teng, J., Xie, Z. (2022). Molecular transport in zeolite catalysts: depicting an integrated picture from macroscopic to microscopic scales. Chemical Society Reviews, 51(19), 8174–8200. DOI: 10.1039/D2CS00079B
  4. Kulprathipanja, S. (Ed.). (2010). Zeolites in Industrial Separation and Catalysis. Wiley. DOI: 10.1002/9783527629565.ch3
  5. Kallo, D. (2001). Applications of Natural Zeolites in Water and Wastewater Treatment. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 45(1), 519–550. DOI: 10.2138/rmg.2001.45.15
  6. Kosinov, N., Gascon, J., Kapteijn, F., Hensen, E.J.M. (2016). Recent developments in zeolite membranes for gas separation. Journal of Membrane Science, 499, 65–79. DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2015.10.049
  7. Cardoso, A.M., Horn, M.B., Ferret, L.S., Azevedo, C.M.N., Pires, M. (2015). Integrated synthesis of zeolites 4A and Na–P1 using coal fly ash for application in the formulation of detergents and swine wastewater treatment. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 287, 69–77. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.01.042
  8. Al‐nayili, A., Rzoqy, M. (2022). Local silica sand as a silica source in the synthesis of Y zeolite. Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering, 17(5). DOI: 10.1002/apj.2824
  9. Foroughi, M., Salem, A., Salem, S. (2021). Characterization of phase transformation from low grade kaolin to zeolite LTA in fusion technique: Focus on quartz melting and crystallization in presence of NaAlO2. Materials Chemistry and Physics, 258, 123892. DOI: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2020.123892
  10. Hassan, E.M., Abdul-Wahab, S.A., Abdo, J., Yetilmezsoy, K. (2019). Production of environmentally friendly cements using synthetic zeolite catalyst as the pozzolanic material. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 21(9), 1829–1839. DOI: 10.1007/s10098-019-01752-7
  11. Lahnafi, A., Elgamouz, A., Jaber, L., Tijani, N., Kawde, A.-N. (2023). NaA zeolite-clay composite membrane formulation and its use as cost-effective water softener. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 348, 112339. DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2022.112339
  12. Lecomte, I., Liégeois, M., Rulmont, A., Cloots, R., Maseri, F. (2003). Synthesis and characterization of new inorganic polymeric composites based on kaolin or white clay and on ground-granulated blast furnace slag. Journal of Materials Research, 18(11), 2571–2579. DOI: 10.1557/JMR.2003.0360
  13. Krachuamram, S., Chanapattharapol, K.C., Kamonsutthipaijit, N. (2021). Synthesis and characterization of NaX-type zeolites prepared by different silica and alumina sources and their CO2 adsorption properties. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 310. DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2020.110632
  14. Yu, J. (2007). Synthesis of Zeolites. DOI: 10.1016/S0167-2991(07)80791-9
  15. El Bojaddayni, I., Emin Küçük, M., El Ouardi, Y., Jilal, I., El Barkany, S., Moradi, K., Repo, E., Laatikainen, K., Ouammou, A. (2023). A review on synthesis of zeolites from natural clay resources and waste ash: Recent approaches and progress. Minerals Engineering, 198, 108086. DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2023.108086
  16. -Murukutti, M., Jena, H. (2022). Synthesis of nano-crystalline zeolite-A and zeolite-X from Indian coal fly ash, its characterization and performance evaluation for the removal of Cs+ and Sr2+ from simulated nuclear waste. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 423, 127085. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127085
  17. Palomino, M., Corma, A., Rey, F., Valencia, S. (2010). New Insights on CO2 −Methane Separation Using LTA Zeolites with Different Si/Al Ratios and a First Comparison with MOFs. Langmuir, 26(3), 1910–1917. DOI: 10.1021/la9026656
  18. Ma, G., Bai, C., Wang, M., He, P. (2021). Effects of Si/Al Ratios on the Bulk-Type Zeolite Formation Using Synthetic Metakaolin-Based Geopolymer with Designated Composition. Crystals, 11(11), 1310. DOI: 10.3390/cryst11111310
  19. Smaihi, M., Barida, O., Valtchev, V. (2003). Investigation of the Crystallization Stages of LTA‐Type Zeolite by Complementary Characterization Techniques. European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2003(24), 4370–4377. DOI: 10.1002/ejic.200300154
  20. Wang, Q., Xu, W., Cai, J., Yu, Q., Min, J. (2024). Study on the Synthesis of LTA-Type Molecular Sieves from Coal Gangue and Aluminum Ash and Its Adsorption Properties towards Cu2+. Crystals, 14(4), 379. DOI: 10.3390/cryst14040379
  21. Youssef, H., Ibrahim, D., Komarneni, S. (2008). Microwave-assisted versus conventional synthesis of zeolite A from metakaolinite. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 115(3), 527–534. DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2008.02.030
  22. Kloprogge, J. (2019). The Kaolin Group: Hydroxyl Groups. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-02373-7_3
  23. Jozanikohan, G., Abarghooei, M.N. (2022). The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis for the clay mineralogy studies in a clastic reservoir. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 12(8), 2093–2106. DOI: 10.1007/s13202-021-01449-y
  24. Król, M., Minkiewicz, J., Mozgawa, W. (2016). IR spectroscopy studies of zeolites in geopolymeric materials derived from kaolinite. Journal of Molecular Structure, 1126, 200–206. DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2016.02.027
  25. Montanari, T., Busca, G. (2008). On the mechanism of adsorption and separation of CO2 on LTA zeolites: An IR investigation. Vibrational Spectroscopy, 46(1), 45–51. DOI: 10.1016/j.vibspec.2007.09.001

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update:

No citation recorded.