Synthesis of kalsilite from microcline powder by an alkali-hydrothermal process

The properties of aluminosilicate kalsilite have attracted the interest of researchers in chemical synthesis, ceramic industry, biofuels, etc. In this study, kalsilite was hydrothermally synthesized from microcline powder in a KOH solution. The microcline powder, rich in potassium, aluminum, and silicon, was collected from Mountain Changling in Northwestern China. The effects of temperature, time, and KOH concentration on the decomposition of microcline were investigated. The kalsilite and intermediate products were characterized by means of wet chemistry analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), infrared spectrometry (IR), ²⁹Si magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (²⁹Si MAS NMR), ²⁷Al MAS NMR, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). With increasing temperature, the microcline powder transforms into a metastable KAlSiO₄ polymorph before transforming further into pure kalsilite. A mixture of both kalsilite and metastable KAlSiO₄ polymorph is obtained when the hydrothermal reaction is carried out within 2 h; but after 2 h, kalsilite is the predominant product. The concentration of KOH, which needs to be larger than 4.3 M, is an important parameter influencing the synthesis of kalsilite.