SYNTHESIS OF ZEOLITES FROM PERLITE AND DIATOMITE AS SOURCE
ALTERNATIVE SILICON AND ALUMINUM
perlite, diatomite, zeolite, Rodamine B.
Natural materials based on silica and aluminum such as perlite and diatomite were studied and pretreated to be used in zeolite synthesis. Initially the properties of the natural materials were studied, from the expanded perlite and three different diatomites. With perlite, the zeolitic topologies OFF, GIS and ERI were obtained as mixture of phases and the topology LTA as a pure phase. The phase mixtures were used in adsorptive processes using the dye Rhodamine B, resulting in better adsorbents than the expanded perlite, obtaining a high efficiency. The LTA zeolite as pure phase was also obtained using different diatomites demonstrating the possibility of employing diferent alternative sources of Si and Al in its obtaition.