Effects of magnesite addition on the properties and structure of foam ceramics

Foam ceramics were fabricated by using sand shale, steel slag and magnesite as raw materials and SiC as foam agent. Influences of magnesite on crystalline phases, porosity, mechanical properties and pore structures were investigated via XRF, XRD, high-temperature microscope, Micro-CT and fractal dimension. Magnesite, benefits the formation of diopside and reduces fractal dimension. When 5% magnesite additions is added, the foam ceramics exhibit the optimized properties: bulk density of 1.12 g/cm3, total porosity of 56.79%, closed porosity of 50.71%, bending strength of 13.43 MPa and fractal dimension value of 1.11. Formation mechanism of diopside phase based on Gibbs free energy is also discussed in this paper.

Automated summary

Foam ceramics were fabricated using sand shale, steel slag, and magnesite as raw materials, with the addition of 5% magnesite resulting in optimized properties such as bulk density, porosity, and strength. The presence of magnesite also impacts the formation of diopside and fractal dimension in the foam ceramics.