Residual biomass of the agricultural industry as pore forming material in ceramics

Abstract

In recent years, studies have been carried out on the use of a wide variety of so called biomass residues, which include agricultural by-products, food industry discards, etc. These wastes have been analyzed, among other applications, as pore formers in the traditional ceramic industries.In the present study, the focus has been placed on agricultural biomass residues such as corncobs, sunflower husks, olive stones, peanut shells, pistachio shells, pine sawdust and brewery waste, in order to determine the general characteristics and the specific properties that make them suitable for incorporation into clay mixtures for the production of ceramics. These biomass wastes were analyzed from the point of view of their chemical compositions and morphological structures. Most of the studied biomasses can be easily ground to obtain suitable particle sizes and have a wide range of combustion, which prevents cracks in the obtained ceramic products. In this way, they can be valorized as pore formers in clay ceramic pieces.