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This work presents the results of FT-IR spectroscopic studies of heavy metal cations (Ag(+), Pb(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+) and Cr(3+)) immobilization from aqueous solutions on natural sorbents. The sorption has been conducted on sodium forms of zeolite (clinoptilolite) and clay minerals (mixtures containing mainly montmorillonite and kaolinite) which have been separated from natural Polish deposit. In the next part of the work both sorbents were used to obtain new building composites. It was proven those heavy metal cations' sorption causes changes in IR spectra of the zeolite and clay minerals. These alterations are dependent on the way the cations were sorbed. In the case of zeolite, variations of the bands corresponding to the characteristic ring vibrations have been observed. These rings occur in pseudomolecular complexes 4-4-1 (built of alumino- and silicooxygen tetrahedra) which constitute the secondary building units (SBU) and form spatial framework of the zeolite. The most significant changes have been determined in the region of pseudolattice vibrations (650-700 cm(-1)). In the instance of clay minerals, changes in the spectra occur at two ranges: 1200-800 cm(-1)--the range of the bands assigned to asymmetric Si-O(Si,Al) and bending Al-OH vibrations and 3800-3000 cm(-1)--the range of the bands originating from OH(-) groups stretching vibrations. Next results indicate possibilities of applying the used natural sorbents for the obtainment of new building materials having favourable composition and valuable properties. The zeolite was used for obtaining autoclaved materials with an addition of CaO, and the clay minerals for ceramic sintered materials with an addition of quartz and clinoptilolite were produced. FT-IR studies were also conducted on the obtained materials., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Highlights: [•] We examine the synthesis of zeolites from expanded perlite and fly ash microspheres. [•] It is possible to obtain a coating of sodium zeolites on the light microfillers. [•] We optimized the synthesis temperature, time and NaOH concentration. [•] It is possible to obtain the product in relatively low temperature. [•] We used the infrared spectra to describe the zeolitization progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effect of alkali activation process conditions on the IR spectra, on which amount and types of zeolites in the resultant geopolymers influence significantly. Kaolinite was used as starting materials. The kaolinitic clay was first calcined to transform into the amorphous aluminosilicate phases (metakaolinite) and then activated with sodium silicate (as water glass) and sodium hydroxide. The effects of reaction systems composition (expressed as SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 /Na 2 O molar ratios) as well as synthesis temperature on the phase composition of obtained products have been determined. In particular, the structures of materials were examined using FT-IR spectroscopy in the middle infrared range. The results were compared to the XRD measurements, as well as SEM observations. Alkali-activation treatment of the metakaolin yielded bulk materials with different amounts and types of zeolite, which reveal the IR spectra of received materials. With proper selection of the initial conditions (temperature and composition), it is possible to obtain a solid material containing zeolite phase such as zeolite X, zeolite A or sodalite. The presence of zeolite phase was confirmed by the measurement of spectra in the middle infrared. In particular in pseudolattice range of the spectra, i.e. 800–400 cm −1 , there are bands associated with the ring vibrations, which are characteristic for secondary building units (SBU) occurred in zeolite structure. IR spectroscopy is also useful in the studies of resulting amorphous phase structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]