Characterisation of post-production raw material from the Raciszyn II deposit as a material suitable for the production of alkaline-activated materials

The clay is the basic raw material used in the production of a wide range of ceramic products. However, global guidelines encourage limiting the consumption of natural resources in the production process. For this reason, research is being conducted in developing technologies that enable the production of full-value products by using post-process materials. The article presents the properties of post-production clay sourced from the Jurassic limestone Raciszyn II deposit. In this study, the results of mineralogical (X-ray diffraction) and chemical (X-ray fluorescence) analysis of post-production raw material will be presented. In addition, the leachability in water and the natural radioactivity of the material were established, which determines the possibility of using the raw material in building applications. It was found that, because of the presence of minerals from the kaolinite group in the post-production raw material from Raciszyn II deposit, it is suitable for the production of alkaline-activated materials. However, it was necessary to determine the temperature range of its thermal treatment. The processes occurring in the post-production raw material during its heating were characterised by means of thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis and mass spectroscopy thermal analysis-coupled techniques. The compressive strength properties of alkali-activated materials, produced from the post-process material from Raciszyn, analysed after 14 and 28 days of curing, were also presented.