4. Conclusions
Zeolite-geo polymer hybrid bulk materials can be obtained using thermal activated kaolinitic clay as starting material. Type of the zeolite structure, which is formed at a given temperature, depends largely on the composition of the starting mixture. Both temperature (in the range 20e100 C) and the type of reagents (chemical composition of reaction system described by various Si/Al and Na/Si ratios) have influence on the structure of resulting materials. Presentedinvestigationshaveshownthatusingmetakaolinitactivated by mixture of sodium water glass and sodium hydroxide it is possible to obtain a solid, monolithic product whose analysis of phase composition showed a high content of zeolite A e this structure is formed at SiO2/Al2O3 close to 2.00. By changing the Si/ Al ratio it is also possible to obtain sodalite and zeolite Y. Bands connected with vibrations realized in the structures of zeolite can be identified in the pseudolattice region of infrared spectraofthesamplesobtainedatdifferentconditions.Thebandat 554 cm1 is assigned to D4R unit and characteristic for zeolite A, whilethebandsatabout750and670cm1 indicatethepresenceof zeolite X in the sample. The phases identified on the basis of IR spectra correspond to the results of XRD analysis, as well as SEM observations. Spectroscopic results indicate structural similarity of zeolites and geopolymers. The presence of bands in pseudolattice range of the spectra (800e400 cm1) associated with the ring vibrations, characteristicforsecondarybuildingunits(SBU)occurredinzeolite structure in the spectra of amorphous geopolimeric samples indicates a medium-range order in such structures.