Effect of Thermal Treatment on The Characteristic of Porous Ceramic Based Natural Clay and Chitosan Biopolymer Precursors
Suriati Eka Putri (a,b), Ahyar Ahmad (c*), Indah Raya (c), Rachmat Triandi Tjahjanto (d), Rizal Irfandi (e), Susilo Sudarman Desa (f)

(a) Doctoral Program Student, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Hasanuddin University, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan Km. 20, Makassar, 90245, Indonesia
(b) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Universitas Negeri Makassar, Makassar, Jalan Daeng Tata Raya Makassar, 90244, Indonesia
(c) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Hasanuddin University, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan Km. 20, Makassar, 90245, Indonesia
(d) Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, Brawijaya University, Jalan Veteran Malang, 65145, Indonesia
(e) Department of Biology Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Puangrimaggalatung, Jalan Sultan Hasanuddin, Madukkeleng Sengkang, 90915, Indonesia
(f) School of Bio-Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, 12120, Thailand

*ahyarahmad[at]gmail.com

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to determine the role of thermal treatment on crystallinity and pore characteristics of porous ceramic, which was prepared from natural clay (NC) and chitosan (CS) biopolymer using gelcasting method. CS were used as an environmentally friendly pore-forming agent. The applied temperature treatment was based on the results of thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) and following a sintering temperature of 900 to 1100 oC. The results show that the higher sintering temperature, the crystallinities of the ceramic decrease (72.42% to 68.72%) while the lattice strain increases (calculated from the Full Width at Half Maximum of the diffraction peak). The porosity of ceramic decreases by increasing the sintering temperature, whereas the formation of heterogeneous microstructure was observed. The resulting pore size for all temperature treatments was microporous (4.49 to 10.58 um). As suggestion, the resulting porous ceramics can be offered in several applications such as filters and catalytic membranes.

Keywords: sintering, gelcasting, porous ceramic

Topic: Inorganic Chemistry