Fabrication of sustainable ceramic board using solid-wastes for construction purpose

This work aims to evaluate the feasibility of using seashell and fly ash as ingredients for fabrication of the sustainable ceramic board. The multi-phase ceramic powder (MCP) formulation was done through the mixing of 1:1 weight ratio of fly ash and heat-treated seashell as ingredients and calcined at 1100 °C. Larnite (Ca₂SiO₄) was a major phase, and minor phases obtained in MCP were mullite (Al_4.56Si_1.44O_9.72), calcium aluminate (Ca₃Al₂O₆), and anorthite (CaAl₂Si₂O₈). Ceramic board (CB) samples were prepared by simple room temperature curing (without autoclave) process with the mixing of a different portion of unground rice husk ash (URHA), rice husk (RH) and a small amount (10 wt%) of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Several physicals, mechanical and thermal characterizations especially X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), water absorption, bulk density (BD), expansion in water, bending strength, compressive strength, thermal conductivity, and humidity effect of the cured specimen were analyzed. The obtained results show that the addition of URHA, RH, and OPC with MCP influence all the properties of CB. The wastes derived CB exhibits good properties than a standard internationally calcium silicate board's technical data, i.e., low density (<1000 kg/m³), good bending strength (>6 MPa) and low thermal conductivity (<0.22 W/m-K). It suggests that these wastes derived sustainable CB can be used for the internal lining of the building for thermal insulation.