CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

The reuse of waste materials from numerous industries, by incorporating them into the construction industry as part ofcements, asphalts, ceramics, etc., has increased in recent decades. The objective of this process is the recovery of wasteand the production of environmentally friendly materials. In the present study, the focus has been placed on agriculturalbiomass residues such as corncobs, sunflower husks, olive stone pits, peanut shells, pistachio shells, among others, inorder to determine whether their general characteristics make them suitable for incorporation in clay mixtures as poreformers in the production of ceramics. The biomasses were analyzed from the point of view of their chemicalcompositions and morphological structures, using diverse techniques: SEM, EDS, DTA-TGA, LOI, heat capacities anddensities. If the heating rates and the incorporated biomass percentages are adequate, the matrix will sinter with poreformation and without the presence of cracks. The studied biomasses showed characteristics and behaviors that makefeasible their valorization as pore formers in ceramics. They can be easily ground to obtain the appropriate particle sizes.They have a wide range of combustion, which prevents cracks in the ceramic product. For example, in figure 1 the DTATGAof corncobs is presented. The peaks observed correspond to the different biopolymers present in the biomass(cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). The weight loss of most of the studied biomasses was in the range 93-98%.Therefore, a very small percentage of the material (ashes) will remain inside the matrix of the ceramic bricks after firing.The densities of the studied biomasses are much lower than the corresponding to the clay, so the proportions to be usedmust be low, at most 20%. In this way, the conditions of heat treatment of the samples should not be changed, in relationto those used for clay without aggregates, despite the significant heat capacities of the biomasses.