Preparation of Mullite Nanocomposites Powders from Coal Fly Ash via Hydrothermal Crystallization
Mullite nanocomposites powders have been successfully synthesized from high-aluminium coal fly ash via hydrothermal crystallization process. The mullite nanocomposites powders are investigated and charactered by laser particle size analysis, BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analysis and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Moreover, the reaction mechanism is speculated according to MAS-NMR results. The experimental results show that mullite nanocomposites powders can be prepared at 80-90 °C for 3 h with NaOH concentration of 2-4 mol/L and L/S ratio (liquid/solid ratio in mass) of 10 mL/g. The powder size of D50is about 1.88-3.27 mm. Mullite nanocomposites are mainly rod-like, acicular and fibroid in shape with an range of 30-80 nm in length and an range of 4.5-30 nm in diameter. MAS-NMR analysis indicates that the nano-size mullite grow around the central atom-Al, Si of [AlSi]O4tetrahedral and the growth unit Al[OH]4-is existed in this process definitely.