Ultrasonic and conventional synthesis of NaA zeolite from rice husk ash

In the present work, a simple synthetic route for the production of single phase NaA zeolite is demonstrated. Rice husk ash (RHA) as alternative silica source was employed for the synthesis by conventional hydrothermal and non-conventional ultrasound methods. The zeolite was also synthesized using commercially available silicate for comparison. The effect of the reaction time (2, 4 and 6 h) at a fixed temperature of 70 °C was investigated. The elemental, structural and morphological characterization of the ashes and the synthesized zeolites was performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DSC). (paper)