Synthesis of Zeolites from Fine-Grained Perlite and Their Application as Sorbents

The hydrothermal alteration of perlite into zeolites was studied using a two-step approach. Firstly, perlite powder was transformed into Na-P1 (GIS) or hydro(xy)sodalite (SOD) zeolites at 100 °C and 24 h using 2 or 5 M NaOH solutions. Secondly, the Si:Al molar ratio of the reacted Si-rich solution was adjusted to 1 by Na-aluminate addition to produce zeolite A (LTA) at 65 or 95 °C and 6 or 24 h at an efficiency of 90 ± 9% for Al and 93 ± 6% for Si conversion. The performance of these zeolites for metal ion removal and water softening applications was assessed by sorption experiments using an artificial waste solution containing 4 mmol/L of metal ions (Me²⁺: Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺ and Zn²⁺) and local tap water (2.1 mmol/L Ca²⁺ and 0.6 mmol/L Mg²⁺) at 25 °C. The removal capacity of the LTA-zeolite ranged from 2.69 to 2.86 mmol/g for Me²⁺ (=240–275 mg/g), which is similar to commercial zeolite A (2.73 mmol/g) and GIS-zeolite (2.69 mmol/g), and significantly higher compared to the perlite powder (0.56 mmol/g) and SOD-zeolite (0.88 mmol/g). The best-performing LTA-zeolite removed 99.8% Ca²⁺ and 93.4% Mg²⁺ from tap water. Our results demonstrate the applicability of the LTA-zeolites from perlite for water treatment and softening applications.