Articles
  • Preparation of glass-ceramics from vermiculite clay mineral 
  • Silva Jr C.N.a, Pimentel P.M.b, Oliveira R.M.P.B.c*, Melo D.M.A.a and Silva J.E.C.d
  • a Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59078-970, Brazil b Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-árido, Angicos, RN, 59515-000, Brazil c Departamento de Ciência e Engenharia de Materiais, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristovão, SE, 49100-000, Brazil d Universidade Federal de Tocantins, Araguaina, TO, 77807-060, Brazil
Abstract
In this study glass-ceramics were produced from vermiculite, a clay mineral found in abundance in the Northeast of Brazil. These materials were characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, the Vickers microhardness test and scanning electron microscopy. Chemical analysis revealed the material contains a wide variety of metal oxides which are potentiators of crystal formation in glass-ceramics. XRD patterns indicating sodium aluminosilicates as the main crystalline phase in all the samples treated at 750 degrees C. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show crystalline regions in all the samples.

Keywords: Glass-ceramics; Clay mineral; Vermiculite; Melt-quenching

This Article

  • 2014; 15(5): 360-365

    Published on Oct 31, 2014

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