Abstract: Zeolite (ZE) was synthesized in low-temperature and alkali-fusion-hydrothermal crystallization process with fly ash (FA) containing high SiO2 and Al2O3 content as raw materials, NaOH as modifier. ZE was characterized by scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). The adsorption properties and mechanism of synthetic zeolite for Cd2+ were investigated by static adsorption experiment. The results showed that the Si-O-Si and Si-O-Al bonds in FA fractured to form [SiO4]4- and [AlO6]5- monomers after NaOH modification. The surface area of ZE increased to 21.54 m2/g. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of the Cd2+ on ZE was 49.38 mg.g-1 under the conditions of the ZE dosage of 0.1 g, Cd2+ initial concentration of 100 mg/L and adsorption time of 30 min, which more than 57.29% FA reaction. ZE adsorption of the Cd2+ removal efficiency was more 90% at pH=4~9. At 35℃, the adsorption kinetics of ZE for Cd2+ followed the pseudo-two-order kinetic equation model with rate constant of 0.0586g/(mg.min). The Cd2+ adsorption isotherm is accorded with Langmiur model, 1/n was 0.4324. The thermodynamic experiments revealed that the Gibbs free energy change △G was between -20 and 0 kJ/mol, indicating that the adsorption was a spontaneous and endothermic process. From the D-R isotherm model, the adsorption energy was more than 16 KJ/mol, which demonstrated that the adsorption of Cd2+ was a combination of physical adsorption and chemical adsorption.