biostudies-literatureBian RNational Natural Science Foundation of China36248-36255https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9074915biostudies-literatureUnknown9(62)Water treatment sludge, which is mechanically dewatered and landfilled as solid waste, is considerably generated in water plants for potable water production. Herein, a novel route to hydrothermally convert this sludge into magnetic particles (MPs) is demonstrated. The sludge comprised amorphous aggregates with a relatively high Al/Si ratio of 3.7 and low Fe content of 8.5 wt%. After hydrothermal treatment, the Al/Si ratio of the MPs was approximated to 1, which was unaffected as the NaOH concentration increased from 2 M to 4 M or 6 M. The amorphous sludge was converted to MPs in the following order: spherical sodalite with a diameter of 3-5 μm, large spherical sodalite with a diameter of 5-10 μm and crystal dendritic cancrinite. Dendritic cancrinite was generated by recrystallisation of aRSC advancesResource recovery of wastewater treatment sludge: synthesis of a magnetic cancrinite adsorbent.PMC9074915518781335187813451578118Huo MBian RZhu JChen YZhang LYu YZhu SfalseResource recovery of wastewater treatment sludge: synthesis of a magnetic cancrinite adsorbent.Water treatment sludge, which is mechanically dewatered and landfilled as solid waste, is considerably generated in water plants for potable water production. Herein, a novel route to hydrothermally convert this sludge into magnetic particles (MPs) is demonstrated. The sludge comprised amorphous aggregates with a relatively high Al/Si ratio of 3.7 and low Fe content of 8.5 wt%. After hydrothermal treatment, the Al/Si ratio of the MPs was approximated to 1, which was unaffected as the NaOH concentration increased from 2 M to 4 M or 6 M. The amorphous sludge was converted to MPs in the following order: spherical sodalite with a diameter of 3-5 μm, large spherical sodalite with a diameter of 5-10 μm and crystal dendritic cancrinite. Dendritic cancrinite was generated by recrystallisation of a2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Nov2025-04-04T23:15:24.744Z2025-04-04T23:15:24.744ZS-EPMC90749153554059310.1039/c9ra06940b