Synthesis of Y zeolite from coal gangue and its application in phenol removal from aqueous solution

The eco-friendly Y-zeolite from low-cost solid waste coal gangue were successfully obtained by hydrothermal synthesis combined with in-situ crystallization method in low-concentration alkaline solution systems. The structural properties of the samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, N 2 adsorption-desorption, ICP/OES and SEM. The results suggested that when the molar ratio of Na 2 O/SiO 2 is 0.4, Na 2 O/H 2 O is 50 and SiO 2 /A1 2 O 3 is 10, the Y 10 zeolite from coal gangue obtained a remarkable conversion rate of 98.6%. The synthesized Y 10 zeolite exhibited uniform pore size distribution, high relative crystallinity of 96.7%, high specific surface area of 697.71m 2 /g and pore volume of 0.29 cm 3 /g. The sample Y 10 achieved the highest phenol adsorption rate of 61.80% for an initial concentration of 50 mg/L under the condition of dosage of 10 g/L, stirring time of 80 min, stirring temperature of 30°C and solution pH of 7. However, the Y 10 achieved an adsorption capacity of up to 9.28 mg/g when applied to phenol with an initial concentration of 400 mg/L at the same adsorption condition.