Effect of rice husk additions on the final composition of fired kaolinite ceramic

Abstract

During production of rice, huge amounts of rice husks are left as abundant waste product. Rice husk is usually disposed off by combustion and this contributes to environmental problem due to the air and water pollution. Many research has been develop to identify the effective ways of using this waste especially in materials, processing and applications. This paper discusses the used of rice husk waste materials as additive or fillers in kaolinite ceramic compound and their effect on the final kaolinite composition. In this study, rice husk waste from the north region of Malaysia (Perlis) was used. The preparation of the composite sample started from process of raw material preparations, mixing, forming and sample firing in muffle furnace under air atmosphere at 1100ºC for 3 soaking hours. From the X-Ray Diffarction (XRD) analysis, it shows that additions of rice husk powders into kaolinite was lead into existing of silicate hydrate (opal) compound in the final fired kaolinite composition.