Structure Formation Processes and Green Ceramics Manufacturing from Hazardous Bauxite Red Mud and Ferrous Slag

Abstract This paper reports the development and characterization of some new ceramic materials from hazardous bauxite red mud (50 to 100 wt.%) and blast furnace slag (10 and 50%). This research aimed to demonstrate the possibility of expanding the raw material base for ceramics production, completely replacing the traditional natural raw materials (clay and sand) by hazardous industrial wastes composites with increasing local and global sustainability. Studies on the physicochemical processes of the ceramic structure’s formation were conducted by the XRF, XRD, AAS, SEM with EDS, and LAMMA methods. Changes in flexural strength, linear shrinkage, water absorption, and density were determined during the sintering process at 1000°, 1050°, 1100°, 1150°, 1200°, and 1225°C. The ceramics` flexural strength after sintering at 1225°C reached 19.78 MPa due to the syntheses of the mainly glass-like structure formation, confirmed by SEM, EDS and isotopes LAMMA methods with the complete binding of the heavy metals.