Bulk modulus of basic sodalite, Na₈[AlSiO₄] ₆(OH)₂•2H₂O, a possible zeolitic precursor in coal-fly-ash-based geopolymers

Synthetic basic sodalite, Na₈[AlSiO₄] ₆(OH)₂•2H₂O, cubic, P43n, (also known as hydroxysodalite hydrate) was prepared by the alkaline activation of amorphous aluminosilicate glass, obtained from the phase separation of Class F fly ash. The sample was subjected to a process similar to geopolymerization, using high concentrations of a NaOH solution at 90 °C for 24 hours. Basic sodalite was chosen as a representative analogue of the zeolite precursor existing in Na-based Class F fly ash geopolymers. To determine its bulk modulus, high-pressure synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction was applied using a diamond anvil cell (DAC) up to a pressure of 4.5 GPa. A curve-fit with a truncated third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state with a fixed K'_o = 4 to pressure-normalized volume data yielded the isothermal bulk modulus, K _o = 43 ± 4 GPa, indicating that basic sodalite is more compressible than sodalite, possibly due to a difference in interactions between the framework host and the guest molecules.