Synthesis and characterization of zeolite X from lithium slag

Lithium slag was used as raw material to synthesize zeolite X by hydrothermal reaction with alkaline fusion. The synthesized zeolite (NaX-1) and commercial zeolite X (NaX) were characterized by XRD, SEM, IR, TG-DTA and N-2 adsorption-desorption techniques. Also, water adsorption isotherms were determined by vacuum gravimetric method. Zeolite NaX-1 has similar performance to commercial zeolite X, its specific surface area and the dominant pore size are 847 m(2) g(-1) and 0.859 nm, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of NaX-1 for water vapor is 0.3208 kg/kg, i.e. it is comparable to NaX (0.3303 kg/kg). Crown Copyright (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.