Investigation of the thermal modification of asbestos wastes for potential use in ceramic formulation

Preliminary research has been carried out on the thermal modification of chrysotile asbestos. Destruction of the tubular structure of asbestos was achieved by calcination at 1000 degrees C. In order to characterize the changes accompanying thermal modification both natural asbestos and calcined asbestos were subjected to thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, X-ray analysis and examination by scanning electron microscopy. The possibility of utilization of the calcined asbestos in the presence of a phosphate binder for the manufacture of refractory materials has been demonstrated.