Ecofriendly ceramic tile development by geopolymerization

Autores: Korc, G.|Kara, F.|Vicent, M.|Süzük, K.G.|Seiffarth, T.

Geopolymers are a kind of inorganic polymers typicaly formed by reaction between a solid aluminosilicate and sodium silicate solution under highly alkaline conditions. These materials are energy efficient ceramic-like materials which form and harden at ambient temperatures. The objective of this study is to develop an energy efficient manufacturing process by transforming the geopolymer technology into the traditional ceramic tile production. Ceramic tiles are produced at 1100-1200 °C, whereas the geopolymers require 25-150 °C temperature to get the desired strength. In the study metakaolin, metakaolin and perlite based geopolymer compositions containing different fillers were prepared by using conventional ceramic tile dry processing route. The flowability and the pressing behaviour of geopolymer based dry granulated powder were studied. The soundness of geopolymer specimens were determined by using boiling test and thermal behaviour of the samples were studied by an optical dilatometer. The results shows that the wall tiles with required properties can be produced by geopolymeric route.
Geopolymer based ceramic tile processing may eliminate the main energy intensive processing steps in conventional ceramic tile manufacturing and will save up substantial energy cost and reduce CO2 emission.