The Alkaline Fusion-Hydrothermal Synthesis of Blast Furnace Slag-Based Zeolite (BFSZ): Effect of Crystallization Time

Blast furnace slag (BFS) is usually regarded as a by-product of the steel industry, which can be utilized as raw material for preparing BFS-based zeolite (BFSZ). In this study, BFSZ was successfully prepared from BFS using alkaline fusion-hydrothermal synthesis. Via the analyses by XRD, SEM, EDX, XRF, FT-IR, elemental mapping and BET/BJH methods, BFSZ crystallization was almost complete at 6 h. With a further increase of crystallization time to 8 h, no significant effect on the formation of crystalline phase was found. Meanwhile, the zeolite content Si/Al (Na/Al) molar ratio was highly affected by crystallization time. The main component of BFSZ prepared at 6 h is cubic crystal with developed surface, with particle size around 2 mu m. Moreover, further increasing the crystallization time will not significantly influence the size and morphology of BFSZ product.

Automated summary

In this study, zeolite material was successfully prepared from blast furnace slag using alkaline fusion-hydrothermal synthesis. Analyses showed that the crystallization of BFSZ was almost complete at 6 hours, and the Si/Al (Na/Al) molar ratio was highly affected by crystallization time. Further increasing the crystallization time did not significantly influence the size and morphology of the BFSZ product.