Synthesis of Zeolite-Activated Carbon Composite for Removal of Ammonium From Aqueous Solution

Abstract

In this study, zeolite-activated carbon composite (Z/AC) was synthesized by hydrothermal reaction using kaolin as a source of silica and alumina. The synthesized materials were characterized by Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area to calculate surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study the crystal structure of materials, Infrared spectroscopy (IR) to indicate the presence of functional groups on the surface and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to determine the morphology of the composites. In this paper, adsorption equilibrium and kinetics for the removal of ammonium by prepared Z/AC materials were evaluated.