Comparison of Three Manufacturing Techniques for Sustainable Porous Clay Ceramics

This study proposes different manufacturing techniques (manual pelletization, powder pressing, and shell scaffold) to obtain lightweight clay ceramics containing recovery raw materials. The sintering in an electrical furnace (1000 degrees C, 1 h processing time) was conducted by traditional firing from room temperature, for pressed and shell-scaffold samples, while the flash heating (i.e., samples directly put at 1000 degrees C) was used only for the pellets. The porous materials (porosity 40-80%), functionalized with nutrients (K and P) in amounts to confer the fertilizer capability, gave suitable results in terms of pH (6.7-8.15) and electrical conductivity (0.29-1.33 mS/cm). Thus, such materials can be considered as feasible lightweight clay ceramics, with a positive effect on the soil. These findings permit us to hypothesize a potential use in green roofs or in agronomic applications.

Automated summary

This study suggests using different manufacturing techniques to produce lightweight clay ceramics containing recovery raw materials, which are functionalized with nutrients to confer fertilizer capability. The materials show positive effects on soil and could potentially be used in green roofs or agronomic applications.