CHARACTERISATION OF COAL GANGUE AND FABRICATION OF POROUS CERAMIC MATERIALS

This study explores a sustainable recycling technique for converting coal gangue, an abundant industrial waste, into highvalue porous ceramics, aiming to mitigate environmental hazards while contributing to materials science. By characterising the waste's composition, the research outlines a detailed methodology for ceramic synthesis, which includes calcination, grinding, and sintering at varying temperatures with the incorporation of chemical additives. The findings reveal that a sintering temperature of 1250 degrees C is optimal for producing ceramics with desirable porosity and strength. Additionally, additives, such as NaOH, KOH, and Ca(OH)2, are shown to enhance the formation of mullite, gehlenite, and calcium silicate phases, thus improving the mechanical properties of the final product. The study concludes with a successful demonstration of a scalable process for manufacturing porous ceramics from coal gangue, providing a new application for waste utilisation and a new pathway to produce advanced materials with significant industrial applications.