Ammonia nitrogen removal from aqueous solution using zeolite modified by microwave-sodium acetate

The characteristics of the zeolite modified by microwave and sodium acetate and its sorption of ammonia-nitrogen from simulated water sample were investigated. The results show that the modified zeolite by microwave-sodium acetate （SMMZ） has a high sorption efficiency and removal performance. The ammonia-nitrogen removal rate of SMMZ reaches 92.90%. The surface of SMMZ becomes loose and some pores appear, the specific surface area, total pore volume and average pore diameter increase after modification. Compared to the natural zeolite, SMMZ has a more concentrated pore size distribution in the range of 0？10 nm. The cation exchange capacity （CEC） of SMMZ is higher than that of the natural zeolite. And the ammonia nitrogen removal rate is consistent with the change of CEC. The SMMZ possesses rapid sorption and slow balance characteristics and ammonia-nitrogen sorption is consistent with both Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and Freundlich adsorption isotherm model. The adsorption kinetics of ammonia-nitrogen follows the pseudo-second order kinetic model.