Abstract
The paper industry generates a huge volume of paper sludge waste. In this study, a new porous ceramic support using paper sludge waste as an alternative raw material was developed. The ceramic supports were produced by pressing and sintered between 1000 and 1200 °C. The influence of the incorporation of the paper sludge waste on the physical properties and sintered microstructure was investigated. The results indicated that the paper sludge waste acts as a pore-forming agent. The produced ceramic supports showed an apparent specific mass of 1.16 to 2.01 g/cm3, apparent porosity of 14.6% to 46.7%, and flexural strength of 15.4 to 39.9 MPa. Microstructural analysis indicated that the ceramic supports had a highly porous morphological structure. Such results indicated that porous ceramic supports containing up to 30 wt% of paper sludge waste have the potential to be employed in the manufacture of filtration membranes.
Keywords:
ceramic support; paper sludge waste; valorization; properties; microstructure
