Hydrothermal synthesis of hydroxy sodalite from fly ash for the removal of lead ions from water

Zeolites are known to possess valuable physiochemical properties such as adsorption, cation exchange, molecular sieving, and catalysis. In addition, zeolites are highly selective scavengers of a variety of heavy metals from liquid effluents through the process of ion exchange. The present study was performed to hydrothermally synthesize Na₈AlSiO₄]₆(OH)₂·2H₂O (also known as hydroxy sodalite hydrate). Due to its small aperture size, this material can be an ideal candidate for the separation of small molecules and ions from aquatic and gas mixtures. Synthetic zeolites offer many advantages over natural zeolites, such as higher ion affinity and adsorption capacity. Batch adsorption isotherm studies were conducted to evaluate the obtained adsorbent for the lead ion removal from aqueous media. Modeling lead ion adsorption using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm expressions determined the capacity of the adsorbent. A removal efficiency of 98.1 % in a 3.0 g/l adsorbent/solution mixture with a maximum adsorption capacity of 153.8 mg/g was obtained. One potential application of the synthesized zeolite is for the lead removal in point-of-use treatment devices.