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Effect of Al(OH)3 content on properties, microstructure, and sintering mechanism of mullite ceramics from bauxite

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Abstract

Mullite ceramics were fabricated by reaction sintering using bauxite and kaolin as raw materials and Al(OH)3 as an additive. Enhanced mullite ceramic performance was achieved by optimizing sintering temperature and amount of added Al(OH)3. Results show that higher amount of Al(OH)3 led to increased mullite content. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy results revealed better interfacial bonding due to interlocking structures of columnar mullite at high sintering temperatures (≥ 1500 °C) in samples prepared with the addition of Al(OH)3. This led to significant improvement in bulk density and mechanical strength of mullite ceramics. Thus, compared with samples prepared without Al(OH)3, the addition of Al(OH)3 was beneficial to formation, growth, and development of mullite. The optimum bulk density of 2.75 g/cm3 was achieved with apparent porosity of 0.79%, and the highest flexural strength of 129.25 MPa was achieved in samples with 12 wt.% Al(OH)3 after sintering at 1550 °C for 3 h.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for High-level Talents of Anhui University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 2023yjrc57), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11872001), the Key Technologies R&D Program of Anhui Province of China (Grant No. 202104a05020033), the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of High-efficiency Utilization of Coal and Green Chemical Engineering (Grant No. 2021-K19), the Anhui Provincial Major Science and Technology Special Program (Grant No. 18030901049), the School-enterprise Cooperation Projects (Grant No. HX2021062279), and the College Students Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (Grant No. S202210361144). We would like to thank MogoEdit (https://www.mogoedit.com) for its English editing during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, 232001, Anhui, China

    Zhenying Liu, Nan **e, Hanxin Zhang, Shouwu Huang, Kai Wang, Kai Cui, Changguo Xue, Hongzheng Zhu & Yin Liu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, 232001, Anhui, China

    Zhenying Liu, Changguo Xue & Hongzheng Zhu

  3. Anhui International Joint Research Center for Nano Carbon-Based Materials and Environmental Health, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan, 232001, Anhui, China

    Zhenying Liu, Changguo Xue & Hongzheng Zhu

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  1. Zhenying Liu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by [Zhenying Liu], [Nan **e], and [Hanxin Zhang]. Conceptualization: [Zhenying Liu]; methodology: [Nan **e]; formal analysis and investigation: [Zhenying Liu], and [Nan **e]; writing-review and editing: [Zhenying Liu], [Nan **e], [Hanxin Zhang], [Shouwu Huang], [Kai Wang], [Kai Cui], [Changguo Xue], [Hongzheng Zhu], and [Yin Liu]; Funding acquisition: [Zhenying Liu], [Kai Cui], [Changguo Xue], [Hongzheng Zhu], and [Yin Liu]; and Supervision: [Changguo Xue], [Hongzheng Zhu], and [Yin Liu]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Zhenying Liu] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Liu, Z., **e, N., Zhang, H. et al. Effect of Al(OH)3 content on properties, microstructure, and sintering mechanism of mullite ceramics from bauxite. J Aust Ceram Soc 60, 13–23 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41779-023-00950-3

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