Production of porous ceramics from sepiolite based minerals

Abstract

Two sepiolite based clay minerals from Eskisehir region of Turkiye were studied to investigate their sintering behaviour and to evaluate the resultant ceramics as a potential porous ceramic material. Dry pressing and sintering were applied to produce porous ceramics and the effects of sintering temperatures on porosity, pore size, pore size distribution-and mechanical behaviours were studied. Microstructural evaluation was carried out using SEM and optical microscopy techniques. Sepiolite based minerals show differences in sepiolite content and also in carbonates counts. The effects of these differences on sintering behaviour, microstructural features, physical and mechanical properties were investigated. Higher sepiolite content in the samples promoted faster sintering at lower temperatures and sintered materials with lower porosity and higher strength. At 1200degreesC, the porosity of the sample with higher sepiolite content was 10% and that of lower sepiolite content sample was 40%. Low shrinkages and high porosity of the sepiolite based samples even at 1100degreesC indicate potential applications of these samples as porous ceramics in filtering and adsorption at high temperatures.