| Summary: | <p>In order to separate water from water-ethanol mixture, cement-natural zeolite composite plate was synthesized. Synthesis of composites was made by mixing two materials with a ratio of 1:1 in an aqueous medium with a certain volume. It was also added a cement additive substance to increase the hardness of the composite. Composites were characterized using IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Adsorption and desorption tests were carried out by dripping a number of volumes of water and ethanol in natural zeolite-cement composite plates and measuring the time it took. Time and adsorption-desorption capacity test of water-ethanol, and compressive strength test of composite were intended to obtain a hydrophilic composite and possess good hardness.<br />
The result showed that the composite has a different structure than the structure of the constituent materials. Adsorption-desorption time measurement on the composite showed that the adsorption time of water was faster than that of ethanol. While for desorption, desorption time of water was slower than that of ethanol. Addition of cement additive also affect the adsorption rate of water and ethanol, wherein the greater the concentration of cement additive the longer the water and ethanol adsorption time. Natural zeolite particle size affected the rate of water and ethanol adsorption time, in which the smaller the particle size the faster the rate of adsorption. On the other side, the hardness of composite increases as the concentration of cement additive increasing. Compressive strength test showed that the composite with compressive strength above 91 N is the best composite and suitable for preliminary test of waterethanol separation process.</p>
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