Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2025

Resource Recycling of Red Soil to Synthesize Fe2O3/FAU-type Zeolite Composite Material for Heavy Metal Removal
Published on: June 2, 2022
Microwave-assisted synthesis of coal fly ash-based zeolites for removal of ammonium from urine
Boitumelo Makgabutlane1,2, Lebea N Nthunya3, Nicholas Musyoka4
1Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability Research Unit, College of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of South Africa Florida 1709 Johannesburg South Africa.
Abstract:
Zeolites synthesized from biomass waste materials offer a great opportunity in the sustainable utilization of the waste. In this work, energy-efficient processes (i.e. microwave and ultrasound irradiation) were used to synthesize pure phase sodalite (zeolite) from coal fly ash obtained from a power plant in South Africa. The pure-phase sodalite was obtained with a comparatively higher surface area (16 m2 g-1) and cation exchange capacity (2.92 meq. g-1) with 40 min total reaction time. The removal of ammonium from urine was carried out using (i) the coal fly ash-derived sodalite, (ii) raw coal fly ash and (iii) a commercially available natural zeolite (clinoptilolite). The pure phase sodalite exhibited the highest removal efficiency of about 82% and 73% in synthetic and real hydrolyzed urine respectively. The adsorption process followed the pseudo second-order kinetic model and the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, indicating that the adsorption process occurred on a heterogeneous surface.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Preparation of Amines: Alkylation of Ammonia and Amines
Each alkylation step makes the nitrogen center more nucleophilic, which triggers successive alkylations until a quaternary ammonium salt is formed. Considering...
Preparation of 1° Amines: Gabriel Synthesis
Strong bases like NaOH or KOH deprotonate the phthalimide to form the corresponding anion, which acts as a nucleophile. Further, the anion attacks an...
Preparation of 1° Amines: Azide Synthesis
Azide ions act as good nucleophiles and react with unhindered alkyl halides to form alkyl azides. Alkyl azides do not participate in further nucleophilic substitution reactions, thereby eliminating the chances of polyalkylated products. Alkyl azides are reduced by hydride-based reducing agents, like lithium aluminum...
Filtration and Urine Formation

