11 Å tobermorite from cement bypass dust and waste container glass: A feasibility study

A novel one-step hydrothermal synthesis of 11 Å tobermorite, a cation exchanger, from a unique combination of waste materials is reported. 11 Å tobermorite was prepared from stoicheiometric quantities of cement bypass dust and waste container glass at 100 °C in water. The product also comprised 10 wt.% calcite and trace quartz as residual parent phases from the cement bypass dust. In a batch sorption study at 20 °C the uptakes of Cd2+ and Pb2+ by the waste-derived tobermorite product were found to be 171 mg g− 1 and 467 mg g− 1, respectively, and in both cases the removal process could be described using a simple pseudo-second-order rate model (k2 = 2.30 × 10− 5 g mg− 1 min− 1 and 5.09 × 10− 5 g mg− 1 min− 1, respectively). The sorption characteristics of the 11 Å tobermorite are compared with those of other waste-derived sorbents and potential applications are discussed.