Abstract
The use of banana stem waste (BW) was evaluated as a pore-forming agent to manufacture a porous clay ceramic body. Raw clay was characterized by XRD, XRF and TGA. After the clay was mixed with banana stem waste, in various proportions, the mixtures were pressed before being fired at different temperatures i.e 1100°C, 1125 and 1150°C, for 3 h with a heating rate of 5°C/min. Pore formation and microstructure in the fired samples were characterized using FE-SEM, whilst bulk densities, porosities and water absorption were determined using the Archimedes method. The mechanical strength was also investigated in order to optimize the fabrication process itself. The results obtained showed shrinkages between 13.08-16.10%, density values ranging between 1.37-1.51g/cm3, whilst porosity was determined to be between 18.5 to 18.78 % and water absorption 9.77-10.06 %, respectively. The tensile strength was in the range of 9.03 to 9.80MPa. These results proved that banana stem waste (BW) is potentially capable to produce porous ceramic materials.
Published Version
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