The current production of zeolites from natural sources requires high temperatures to achieve a phase change in the feedstock materials. Thermal processes such as calcination are energy-consuming and industry relies on fossil fuels to generate the necessary heat, which is neither sustainable nor environmental. This study presents for the first time the treatment of aluminosilicate clay kaolin in a solar reactor to produce metakaolins that are eligible as precursors for zeolite synthesis. Kaolin was loaded in a rotary kiln and a solar simulator was used for calcination at temperatures of 700–1000 °C for 2 h. After the solar calcination process, solar-produced metakaolins were used to synthesize zeolite 4 A and zeolite 13X by hydrothermal route. The kaolin, metakaolin, and product samples obtained were analyzed by XRD, XRF, FTIR, and FE-SEM. Results show that solar-calcined kaolin was as good and efficient as the conventionally calcined one in terms of supplying the metakaolin for zeolite synthesis. Often disregarded by researchers, high-temperature calcination of the kaolin was proved to be an alternative way for the synthesis of zeolite 13X without using an extra silica source, which was achieved for the first time. The overall results suggest that solar calcination is a good alternative to mass produce meta forms of the minerals to be used in the synthesis of value-added products such as zeolites.

目前从天然来源生产沸石需要高温才能实现原料材料的相变。煅烧等热过程非常耗能，工业依赖化石燃料产生必要的热量，这既不可持续也不环保。该研究首次展示了在太阳能反应器中处理铝硅酸盐粘土高岭土以生产适合作为沸石合成前体的偏高岭土。将高岭土装入回转窑中，使用太阳模拟器在 700–1000 °C 的温度下煅烧 2 小时。在太阳能煅烧过程之后，太阳能生产的偏高岭土被用于通过水热路线合成沸石4A和沸石13X。通过 XRD、XRF、FTIR 和 FE-SEM 分析获得的高岭土、偏高岭土和产品样品。结果表明，在为沸石合成提供偏高岭土方面，日光煅烧高岭土与常规煅烧高岭土一样好且高效。通常被研究人员忽视的是，高岭土的高温煅烧被证明是合成沸石 13X 的替代方法，而无需使用额外的二氧化硅来源，这是首次实现。总体结果表明，太阳能煅烧是一种很好的替代方法，可以替代大量生产用于合成沸石等增值产品的变位形式的矿物。高岭土的高温煅烧被证明是在不使用额外二氧化硅源的情况下合成13X沸石的替代方法，这是首次实现。总体结果表明，太阳能煅烧是一种很好的替代方法，可以替代大量生产用于合成沸石等增值产品的变位形式的矿物。高岭土的高温煅烧被证明是在不使用额外二氧化硅源的情况下合成13X沸石的替代方法，这是首次实现。总体结果表明，太阳能煅烧是一种很好的替代方法，可以替代大量生产用于合成沸石等增值产品的变位形式的矿物。