In Brazil, the food industry generates every year huge amounts of avian eggshell waste, and a critical question is to find an adequate use for this waste. The aim of this work is to determine the chemical, mineralogical and physical characteristics of a nonprocessed avian eggshell waste sample, as well as to investigate its use in wall tile paste. The sample was analyzed regarding to chemical composition, X-ray diffraction, morphology, particle size analysis, density, organic matter, soluble salts, and thermal analysis. The results indicated that the eggshell waste sample rich in CaCO3 can be used as an alternative raw material in the production of wall tile materials.

This work presents the results of a study on the suitability of the clayey materials from Campos-RJ (Brazil) region for application in structural ceramic. The clayey materials, i.e. red clays available in this region, were selected so that their characteristics regarding chemical composition, rational analysis, X-ray diffraction, particle size analysis, thermal behavior, plasticity and as dried and fired properties could be studied. The results revealed that the studied samples are typically kaolinite based materials. In addition, it was found that almost all properties of these materials are led to the manufacture of structural ceramic. Mechanical strength test data resulted in Weibull distributions.

Fish bone is rich in calcium carbonate, which makes it an alternative source of low cost calcium carbonate for the synthesis of calcium phosphate bioceramic for use in bone regeneration. The calcium phosphate bioceramic was prepared by a wet precipitation method with acid and base reactions. The synthesized bioceramic was characterized in terms of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTRI), average crystallite size and refinement by the Rietveld method for the quantification of crystalline phases. The results indicated the formation of a biphasic calcium phosphate bioceramic comprising 67.6 % of β-calcium pyrophosphate (β-CPP) and 32.1 % of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). This biphasic calcium phosphate bioceramic synthesized using fish bone waste presented nanostructured nature with an average crystallite size of 69.58 nm, which is very promising for biomedical applications.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi utilizar um resíduo de serragem de granito, proveniente da indústria de pedras ornamentais do estado do Espírito Santo, como aditivo na fabricação de produtos cerâmicos para construção civil. Este resíduo é um material não biodegradável que quando descartado gera poluição e degrada o meio ambiente. Assim, uma amostra deste material foi selecionada de modo que suas características com respeito a composição química, difração de raios X, análise de tamanho de partícula, massa específica real e plasticidade pudessem ser estudadas. Foram preparadas misturas contendo até 10% em peso de resíduo, e sinterizadas em sete diferentes temperaturas entre 850 ºC e 1150 ºC. A evolução na formação de fases cristalinas nos corpos cerâmicos durante a sinterização foi acompanhada por DRX. As propriedades físico-mecânicas foram determinadas em função da temperatura de sinterização e % de resíduo adicionado. Os resultados revelaram que o resíduo é um material polimineral não plástico constituído basicamente por sílica, feldspatos, mica e calcita. Uma série de transformações de fases ocorreram durante a sinterização. Além do mais, os corpos sinterizados contendo resíduo de serragem de granito têm uso provável em cerâmica vermelha, contribuindo para a minimização de resíduos e desenvolvimento auto-sustentado.

The present work focuses on the mineralogical analysis of sedimentary clay material samples collected from deposits located in the Campos dos Goytacazes-RJ (Brazil) region. These samples are representative and widely used by the ceramic plants in production of bricks and roofing tiles. The samples were selected with the objective of analyzing their characteristics regarding chemical composition, loss on ignition, X-ray diffraction, morphology, particle size, plasticity and thermal analysis. The sedimentary red clays have low amount of SiO2, high amount of Al2O3, and high loss on ignition. In addition, it was found that the character of the clays is typically kaolinitic.

In ceramic wall tile processing, fast single-firing cycles have been widely used. In this investigation a fast single-firing porous wall tile mixture was prepared using raw materials from the North Fluminense region.Specimens were obtained by uniaxial pressing and sintered in air at various temperatures (1080 - 1200 °C) using a fast-firing cycle (60 minutes). Evolution of the microstructure was followed by XRD and SEM. The results revealed that the main phases formed during the sintering step are anorthite, gehlenite and hematite. It appears that the sintering process is characterized by the presence of a small amount of a liquid phase below 1140 °C. As a result, the microstructure of the ceramic bodies showed a network of small dense zones interconnected with a porous phase. In addition, the strength of the material below 1140 °C appeared to be related to the type and quantity of crystalline phases in the sintered bodies