Synthesis of high quality zeolites from coal fly ash: Mobility of hazardous elements and environmental applications

Abstract

Converting fly ash into zeolite is an alternative way to reduce the waste landfills while also producing high value-added products. However, hydrothermal synthesis of zeolite from fly ash in alkaline media could also induce mobilization of toxic heavy metals, possibly causing environmental contamination. Systematic research into this subject is rare in the open literature and the mobility of heavy metals from fly ash derived zeolites is yet to be understood. In the present contribution, we investigated the migration of heavy metals and quantified their distribution from fly ash to product zeolites and waste water during the synthesis of high-quality type A zeolites (471 m2/g surface area). H..