Synthesis of MCM-41 from coal fly ash

Efficient recycling of and resource recovery from coal fly ash (CFA) has been a major topic of current international research interest, aimed at achieving sustainable development of human society from the viewpoints of energy, economy, and environmental strategy. This study reported a novel, green and fast method to produce pure and long-range ordered nano-porous MCM-41 material from CFA. Performance evaluation of the produced MCM-41 material in wastewater treatment was investigated. Compared to the commercial zeolite A (Valfor 100), adsorbents produced from CFA were effective in removing multi heavy metal ions in water and could be an alternative material for treatment of wastewater.