Worldwide, the ever-rising demand for coal in power plants has increased coal fly ash (CFA) production. Its disposal is a major environmental problem. CFA zeolitization offers a possible alternative for converting this hazardous solid waste into high-value products. This work uses the fusion-assisted ultrasonication method to synthesize zeolite. The material was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and Barrette-Joyner-Halenda (BJH) techniques. The synthesized zeolite, Sodalite, was mesoporous with a surface area of 22.13 m2/g and an average pore size of 7 nm. This was used and optimized as a solid-state base for synthesizing diphenyl ethers (DPE). The yield of twelve diphenyl ethers with aldehyde, chloro, methoxy, methyl and nitro groups ranged from 35-91 %. The methodology offers an advantage over conventional processes in providing single-step synthesis of DPEs with electron-withdrawing groups on both rings.

This article is Open Access

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