Study the effect of physico-mechanical characteristics of ceramic tiles after addition of river silts and wollastonite derived from wastes

This study investigates the feasibility of using river silt and wastes derived wollastonite as ingredients to produce ceramic tiles. Silts are collected from Kosi river, India and wollastonite are synthesized through waste eggshells and rice husk ash (RHA) at 1100 °C. Different samples are fabricated with different compositions based upon partial and full replacement of quartz and feldspar by the silt and wollastonite, respectively. The samples are prepared by semi-dry process and sintering is done at different temperatures, i.e., 1000 °C, 1100 °C and 1130 °C in air atmosphere. Several characterizations like densification behavior, bulk density (BD), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), compressive strength (CS), three-point bending strength (BS) and acid–alkali resistance of sintered specimen are investigated. The obtained results show that the use of silt is reduced the physical and mechanical properties of tile samples at low sintering temperature but at high temperature, mechanical properties don't have significant influence. Subsequently, all the properties are greatly improved with the addition of wollastonite in the place of K-feldspar. “sw-3” sample (fully replaced quartz and feldspar) sintered at 1100 °C fulfills the ISO standard and offers bending strength ∼48.82 MPa and water absorption ∼0.36 wt%. This promising characteristic confirms the feasibility of recycling wastes for tiles manufacturing and leads to environmental and economic benefits in ceramic industries.