Facile synthesis of 5A zeolite from attapulgite clay for adsorption of n-paraffins

5A zeolites were facilely synthesized from attapulgite clay and sodium aluminate precursors. The optimum synthesis condition for 4A zeolite (Na-form) were H 2 O/attapulgite ratio of 40:1 volume/mass, NaOH/attapulgite mass ratio of 2.35:1, the crystallization time was 4 h at 80–85 °C. The 4A zeolite was converted to related 5A zeolite (Ca-form) through ionic exchanges using calcium chloride solution with the Si/Al mole ratio of 1.3. SEM images demonstrated that as-synthesized 5A zeolites are ordered cubic crystals, average crystals length dimension is 1–2 μm. And the zeolites product had a specific surface area of 482 m 2  g −1 and total pore volume of 0.274 cm 3  g −1 . The static adsorption experiments showed that the equilibrium adsorption capacities of n -decane and n -pentadecane on produced 5A zeolite were 0.253 and 0.510 g g −1 , respectively. And the adsorption equilibrium time of n -decane and n -pentadecane on 5A zeolite were 45 and 60 min, respectively. The experimental adsorption data of n -decane and n -pentadecane on three zeolites could be properly fitted by the Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm model.