Articles
  • Renewable SiO₂ from fly ash for sustainable ceramic and glaze applications

  • Huei-Jyun Shiha, Szu-Jung Linb, Ying-Chieh Leea,c,* and Ting-Fu Hongb

  • aInstitute of Precision Electronic Components, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
    bDepartment of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan
    cDepartment of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study investigates the recovery and application of silica (SiO₂) from fly ash as a substitute for conventional silica in ceramic and glaze production. The microstructure analysis results reveal that the addition of quartz to fly ash facilitated the adsorption of amorphous silica onto β-quartz during calcination, leading to increased average particle size. Thermomechanical analysis indicated that the initial shrinkage temperature increased with higher quartz content due to the high thermal stability of quartz. In glaze application, substituting recycled SiO₂ for conventional silica enabled a reduction raw material while maintaining glaze adhesion and surface quality. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the renewable SiO₂ successfully formed either an amorphous or microcrystalline glaze structure, depending on the formulation. Finally, regenerated SiO₂ was directly applied to ceramic teacups, exhibiting uniform coloration, excellent glaze adhesion, and a dense microstructure without significant defects, demonstrating its feasibility as a sustainable alternative in ceramics manufacturing.


Keywords: Fly ash, Renewable SiO2, Ceramic glaze, Quartz.

This Article

  • 2026; 27(1): 1-9

    Published on Feb 28, 2026

  • 10.36410/jcpr.2026.27.1.1
  • Received on May 16, 2025
  • Revised on Sep 5, 2025
  • Accepted on Sep 12, 2025

Correspondence to

  • Ying-Chieh Lee

  • aInstitute of Precision Electronic Components, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
    cDepartment of Electrical Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan
    Tel : +886-7-5252-000 Fax: +886-7-5254-199

  • E-mail: yc56@mail.nsysu.edu.tw