Characterization of zeolite as a heterogeneous catalyst derived from Sungai Sayong pottery waste: article / Nornadhirah Hamid

Catalyst is a substance that speed up the rate of reaction without itself being worn out at the end of the reaction. Most of Conventional catalysts do not seem relevant anymore due to economical constrains, not environmental friendly, and waste disposal issue of raw materials and the treatment applied. Synthesis of Sungai Sayong pottery waste into zeolite to be used in industrial as catalyst, would give some add value to these ceramic industries such as a proper waste management and a cheaper alternative to existing commercialized catalyst. The purpose of this study is to prepare ZSM-5 zeolite acting as catalyst derived from Sungai Sayong pottery waste and to characterize physically and chemically of synthesized zeolite. This study start with preparation of raw material from Sungai Sayong pottery waste into powder by crushing, grinding and sieving of the waste. After that, the pottery waste was treated with different ratios of 1M Hydrochloric acid and 1M Hydrogen peroxide. The treated and untreated samples were then characterized by using analytical equipment that are Thermogravimetric Analyzer (TGA), X-ray Fluorescene, BET method and Temperature Programmed Reduction Analysis. The results obtained shows that (TGA) of sample 1, sample 3, sample 4 and sample 5 have the similar trend with the commercialized zeolite. Meanwhile, by comparing the amount of Al2O3 and SiO2 in commercialized zeolite with sample produced, the percentage of SiO2 in samples produced is higher than Al2O3 in contrary with commercialized zeolite. The SiO2/Al2O3 ratio for commercialized zeolite is 0.91 and the closest ratio value is 1.05 by 500 μm pottery waste. However, BET surface area shows that all the samples prepared has higher surface area than commercialized zeolite and the highest surface area is from sample 1 that is 66.4731 m2/g. On the other hand, sample 1 and sample 4 has the nearest pore diameter to commercialized zeolite that are 67.751 Å and 63.268 Å . TPR analysis shows that the highest temperature of reduction of sample produced is about 800 ̊C starting from 100 ̊C to 740 ̊C for commercialized zeolite. Unsieved pottery waste and sample 5 share same maximum temperature for reduction that is 800 ̊C but at different temperature of reduction that are 100 ̊C to 560 ̊C for unsieved pottery waste and 40 ̊C to 240 ̊C for sample 5. As conclusion, zeolite derived from Sungai Sayong pottery waste has similarity with the commercialized zeolite in term of temperature profile, elemental content, surface area, pore volume and pore diameter which may affect the efficiency of the catalyst produced.