In situ ultrasonic measurements: a powerful tool to control the synthesis of zeolites from coal fly ash

An in situ ultrasonic diagnostic technique was applied to monitoring the hydrothermal synthesis of zeolite A and X of clear solution extracted from alkaline fused class F coal fly ash. In this context, kinetic evaluations based on in situ ultrasonic diagnostic data displayed an important approach to study the synthesis process. The impact on nucleation and crystal growth was demonstrated by variation of a few relevant parameters such as reaction temperature, amount of water, Na₂O and ageing time, including templated colloidal synthesis mixtures as model solution. To complement the kinetic analysis, ex situ techniques such as ICP, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering were used to investigate liquid phase and reaction products extracted from the reaction mixture during the synthesis.