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Suitability of Vermiculite and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials for Production of Ceramic Tiles

Received: 17 December 2017    Accepted: 9 January 2018    Published: 3 February 2018
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Abstract

The challenging issues in ceramic tiles are low mechanical strength, thermal discomfort and high production costs. And in most efforts to improve strength, emphasis has been placed on minimization of quartz content in the ceramic tiles formula. This is due to β-α phase inversion of quartz which occurs at 573°C during cooling resulting to the development of stresses which initiate fracture and affects the strength of the final body. The objective of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using vermiculite and rice husk ash (RHA) in the composition of ceramic tile body. Initially, a typical ceramic body composed of the mixture of vermiculite and RHA batched with clay, feldspar, quartz and kaolin was prepared. Ceramic bodies were then obtained from this ceramic mixture by pressing samples at a forming pressure of 35MPa. These bodies were then fired at 1180°C in a laboratory furnace and finally the changes in the physical and mechanical properties caused by the introduction of vermiculite and RHA were tested and evaluated. The chemical composition of the raw samples was analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) while the phase composition was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology of the powdered samples was studied by using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The bulk density and open porosity of the sintered ceramic bodies were evaluated using Archimedes ‘principle while the flexural rupture strength was determined by the three point bending test method. The major chemical compounds in vermiculite raw sample were SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 while RHA sample was found to contain mainly SiO2. From the XRD analysis, vermiculite sample had crystalline vermiculite while RHA sample had amorphous silica at low temperature below 900°C and crystallized (tridymite) above 900°C. The results from physical and mechanical properties tests show that with addition of vermiculite and RHA, the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage were increasing while the bulk density and bending strength of the fired ceramic bodies decreased. Among the studied compositions tile bodies made from a blend containing 20% wt. vermiculite and 5% wt. RHA were found to have the best properties for ceramic tiles applications. For this combination the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage were 12.08%, 7.60% and 3.29% while the bulk density and bending strength were 1.88 g/cm3 and 18.84 MPa respectively. These values were close to the required standards of wall and floor tiles.

Published in International Journal of Materials Science and Applications (Volume 7, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12
Page(s) 39-48
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Vermiculite, Tridymite, Amorphous, Crystalline, Flexural Strength

References
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[2] Carty, W. M. and U. Senapati, Porcelain—raw materials, processing, phase evolution, and mechanical behavior. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 1998. 81 (1): p. 3-20.
[3] Hassan, U. and M. Maharaz, Influence of Addition of Rice Husk Ash on Porcelain Composition. Science World Journal, 2015. 10 (1): p. 7-16.
[4] Umut Önen, E. E., Şenol Yılmaz, Th e Investigation for the Possibilities of Construction Material Production from Vermiculite. UCTEA Chamber of Metallurgical & Materials Engineers Proceedings Book, 2016.
[5] Silva Jr, C., et al., Preparation of glass-ceramics from vermiculite clay mineral. Journal of Ceramic Processing Research, 2014. 15 (5): p. 360-365.
[6] Escalera, E., et al., The production of porous brick material from diatomaceous earth and Brazil nut shell ash. Construction and Building Materials, 2015. 98: p. 257-264.
[7] Hamisi, H., et al., Influence of firing temperature on physical properties of same clay and pugu kaolin for ceramic tiles application. International Journal of Materials Science and Applications, 2014. 3 (5): p. 143-146.
[8] Vieira, C. and S. Monteiro, Effect of grog addition on the properties and microstructure of a red ceramic body for brick production. Construction and Building Materials, 2007. 21 (8): p. 1754-1759.
[9] Haslinawati, M., et al., Effect of temperature on ceramic from rice husk ash. International Journal of Basic & Applied Sciences, 2009. 9 (9): p. 22-25.
[10] Della, V. P., I. Kühn, and D. Hotza, Rice husk ash as an alternate source for active silica production. Materials Letters, 2002. 57 (4): p. 818-821.
[11] Marwa, E. M. M., et al., Mineralogical and chemical characterization of some vermiculites from the Mozambique Belt of Tanzania for agricultural use. Clay Minerals, 2009. 44 (1): p. 1-17.
[12] Escalera, E., Characterization and preparation of lightweight silica based ceramics for building applications, 2015, Luleå tekniska universitet.
[13] Farooque, K., et al., Characterization and utilization of rice husk ash (RHA) from rice mill of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 2009. 44 (2): p. 157-162.
[14] Zhang, M.-H. and V. M. Malhotra, High-performance concrete incorporating rice husk ash as a supplementary cementing material. ACI Materials Journal, 1996. 93: p. 629-636.
[15] Sutcu, M., Influence of expanded vermiculite on physical properties and thermal conductivity of clay bricks. Ceramics International, 2015. 41 (2): p. 2819-2827.
[16] Önen, U., E. Ercenk, and Ş. Yılmaz, Th e Investigation for the Possibilities of Construction Material Production from Vermiculite. Chamber of Metallurgical & Materials Engineers Proceedings Book, 2016.
[17] Matteucci, F., M. Dondi, and G. Guarini, Effect of soda-lime glass on sintering and technological properties of porcelain stoneware tiles. Ceramics International, 2002. 28 (8): p. 873-880.
[18] Manukaji John, U., The Insulating Effects of Rice Husks Addition on the Mechanical Properties of Clay Samples from Kaduna State Nigeria.
[19] Martín-Márquez, J., J. M. Rincón, and M. Romero, Effect of firing temperature on sintering of porcelain stoneware tiles. Ceramics International, 2008. 34 (8): p. 1867-1873.
[20] Prasad, C., K. N. Maiti, and R. Venugopal, Effect of rice husk ash in whiteware compositions. Ceramics International, 2001. 27 (6): p. 629-635.
[21] Prasad, C., K. N. Maiti, and R. Venugopal, Effect of substitution of quartz by rice husk ash and silica fume on the properties of whiteware compositions. Ceramics International, 2003. 29 (8): p. 907-914.
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    Said Abeid, Seungyong Eugene Park. (2018). Suitability of Vermiculite and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials for Production of Ceramic Tiles. International Journal of Materials Science and Applications, 7(2), 39-48. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12

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    Said Abeid; Seungyong Eugene Park. Suitability of Vermiculite and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials for Production of Ceramic Tiles. Int. J. Mater. Sci. Appl. 2018, 7(2), 39-48. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12

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    AMA Style

    Said Abeid, Seungyong Eugene Park. Suitability of Vermiculite and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials for Production of Ceramic Tiles. Int J Mater Sci Appl. 2018;7(2):39-48. doi: 10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12,
      author = {Said Abeid and Seungyong Eugene Park},
      title = {Suitability of Vermiculite and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials for Production of Ceramic Tiles},
      journal = {International Journal of Materials Science and Applications},
      volume = {7},
      number = {2},
      pages = {39-48},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijmsa.20180702.12},
      abstract = {The challenging issues in ceramic tiles are low mechanical strength, thermal discomfort and high production costs. And in most efforts to improve strength, emphasis has been placed on minimization of quartz content in the ceramic tiles formula. This is due to β-α phase inversion of quartz which occurs at 573°C during cooling resulting to the development of stresses which initiate fracture and affects the strength of the final body. The objective of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using vermiculite and rice husk ash (RHA) in the composition of ceramic tile body. Initially, a typical ceramic body composed of the mixture of vermiculite and RHA batched with clay, feldspar, quartz and kaolin was prepared. Ceramic bodies were then obtained from this ceramic mixture by pressing samples at a forming pressure of 35MPa. These bodies were then fired at 1180°C in a laboratory furnace and finally the changes in the physical and mechanical properties caused by the introduction of vermiculite and RHA were tested and evaluated. The chemical composition of the raw samples was analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) while the phase composition was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology of the powdered samples was studied by using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The bulk density and open porosity of the sintered ceramic bodies were evaluated using Archimedes ‘principle while the flexural rupture strength was determined by the three point bending test method. The major chemical compounds in vermiculite raw sample were SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 while RHA sample was found to contain mainly SiO2. From the XRD analysis, vermiculite sample had crystalline vermiculite while RHA sample had amorphous silica at low temperature below 900°C and crystallized (tridymite) above 900°C. The results from physical and mechanical properties tests show that with addition of vermiculite and RHA, the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage were increasing while the bulk density and bending strength of the fired ceramic bodies decreased. Among the studied compositions tile bodies made from a blend containing 20% wt. vermiculite and 5% wt. RHA were found to have the best properties for ceramic tiles applications. For this combination the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage were 12.08%, 7.60% and 3.29% while the bulk density and bending strength were 1.88 g/cm3 and 18.84 MPa respectively. These values were close to the required standards of wall and floor tiles.},
     year = {2018}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Suitability of Vermiculite and Rice Husk Ash as Raw Materials for Production of Ceramic Tiles
    AU  - Said Abeid
    AU  - Seungyong Eugene Park
    Y1  - 2018/02/03
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12
    T2  - International Journal of Materials Science and Applications
    JF  - International Journal of Materials Science and Applications
    JO  - International Journal of Materials Science and Applications
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2643
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijmsa.20180702.12
    AB  - The challenging issues in ceramic tiles are low mechanical strength, thermal discomfort and high production costs. And in most efforts to improve strength, emphasis has been placed on minimization of quartz content in the ceramic tiles formula. This is due to β-α phase inversion of quartz which occurs at 573°C during cooling resulting to the development of stresses which initiate fracture and affects the strength of the final body. The objective of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using vermiculite and rice husk ash (RHA) in the composition of ceramic tile body. Initially, a typical ceramic body composed of the mixture of vermiculite and RHA batched with clay, feldspar, quartz and kaolin was prepared. Ceramic bodies were then obtained from this ceramic mixture by pressing samples at a forming pressure of 35MPa. These bodies were then fired at 1180°C in a laboratory furnace and finally the changes in the physical and mechanical properties caused by the introduction of vermiculite and RHA were tested and evaluated. The chemical composition of the raw samples was analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) while the phase composition was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The morphology of the powdered samples was studied by using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The bulk density and open porosity of the sintered ceramic bodies were evaluated using Archimedes ‘principle while the flexural rupture strength was determined by the three point bending test method. The major chemical compounds in vermiculite raw sample were SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 while RHA sample was found to contain mainly SiO2. From the XRD analysis, vermiculite sample had crystalline vermiculite while RHA sample had amorphous silica at low temperature below 900°C and crystallized (tridymite) above 900°C. The results from physical and mechanical properties tests show that with addition of vermiculite and RHA, the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage were increasing while the bulk density and bending strength of the fired ceramic bodies decreased. Among the studied compositions tile bodies made from a blend containing 20% wt. vermiculite and 5% wt. RHA were found to have the best properties for ceramic tiles applications. For this combination the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage were 12.08%, 7.60% and 3.29% while the bulk density and bending strength were 1.88 g/cm3 and 18.84 MPa respectively. These values were close to the required standards of wall and floor tiles.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania

  • Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Arusha, Tanzania

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