Highly refractory mullite obtained through the route of hydroxyhydrogels

Abstract

Depending on the features required from refractory materials, such as the handling of extreme conditions of temperature and pressure, there is a high demand in industry and home for these resources; their reliability must be assured and the resulting high cost can only be eased by mass production. The search for new refractory materials, which are more reliable and less expensive, has focused research on a material like mullite, which offers a very high refractoriness. In the present work, the synthesis of mullite was achieved by the route of the hydroxyhydrogels; dried colloidal silica and aluminium hydroxide gel were used as raw materials; the mullite was obtained with reduced processing time and cost than contrasting with conventional methods. The resulting products were analyzed by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron micrography (SEM) and pyrometric equivalent cone (PCE) to conclude that an extremely competitive refractory material can be obtained through this method.