A hydrothermal synthesis method for ZSM-5 preparation was investigated by using expanded perlite as the only alumina source. The effect of crystallization conditions on ZSM-5 zeolite formation, such as temperature, time, pH, chemical composition of the reaction mixture, were studied. The samples were characterized by XRD, IR, SEM, XRF and BET surface area measurements. The ZSM-5 zeolite from expanded perlite showed better catalytic activity for the FCC gasoline aromatization reaction compared to ZSM-5 prepared by the standard method. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.