Abstract: Natural clays are readily available in many geographical locations in Nigeria and their use for advanced materials have limited by processing and properties assessments. This work was carried out to process and characterize some selected clays for structural applications. Ball clay and stoneware clay were obtained from Kogi State, Nigeria and were modified with some non-plastic minerals. The processed clays were achieved by ball milling with the addition of non-plastic minerals (feldspar, limestone and talc) and milled at 150 rpm for 30mins. The slurry was sieve with 100 µm sieve sizes and made to pass through a magnetic wet separator in other for the impurities to be reduced to a tolerable amount and spray dried at temperature of 220°C and the dried powder was calcine at 800°C for 30 minutes. The raw and processed clays were characterized with XRF, FTIR and SEM to determine the chemical compositions, the functional group as well as the microstructural features, respectively. The results of the characterization revealed that silicon (Si) followed by aluminum (Al) were the major elements in the particles while the spectral band suggested the presents of quarts and others minerals with Si-O stretching modes. The SEM micrographs revealed good proper mix and interaction between the clays and the solid minerals which suggested the adaptability of the materials for production of advanced materials structural components.
Keywords: Natural clay, solid minerals, structural components, advanced materials, processing, characterization.
Title: PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SELECTED CLAYS AND NON-PLASTIC MINERALS FOR ADVANCED STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS
Author: Adewumi O.A., Oladele I.O., Daramola O.O., Ezemenike C. S., Adeyanju B.B., Aladenika A.K., Idowu A.S., Oyedokun O.V
International Journal of Civil and Structural Engineering Research
ISSN 2348-7607 (Online)
Vol. 12, Issue 1, April 2024 - September 2024
Page No: 112-121
Research Publish Journals
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 25-June-2024
