Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• Porous wollastonite ceramics were successfully fabricated at low temperature (1140°C) using industrial solid wastes (manganese slag and silicate tailings) as primary raw materials. • Optimal foaming was achieved with 0.4 wt% SiC, yielding ceramics with porosity up to 78.4% and low bulk density (0.96 g/cm³). • Increasing manganese slag content from 8.33 to 41.67 wt% reduced porosity and increased bending strength, demonstrating tunable mechanical properties. • The ceramics exhibited excellent corrosion resistance (99.55%) at 8.33 wt% MS and 1160°C, highlighting their potential for sustainable construction materials.
Abstract
A porous wollastonite ceramic with high porosity and low density has been successfully fabricated at low temperature with silicate tailings and electrolytic manganese slag (MS) as primary raw materials in this study. The influences of calcination temperature, SiC, and MS addition amounts on porosity, water adsorption, pore size distribution, bulk density, and bending strength were systematically studied. The results showed that 0.4 wt% of SiC was optimal for the ceramic foaming at a sintering temperature of 1140 ℃. The porosity of ceramics reduced from 78.4% to 63.7%, bulk density elevated from 0.96 to 1.13 g/cm3, and bending strength increased from 8.43 to 11.22 MPa as the MS increased from 8.33 wt% to 41.67 wt%. Moreover, the best corrosion resistance performance was reached to 99.55% with 8.33 wt% MS content and a sintering temperature of 1160 ℃. This work is of significance for the solid waste utilization.
1. Introduction
Foamed ceramics (FCs) were identified as excellent potential materials in the field of architecture because they have outstanding mechanical capacity, thermal shock resistance and chemical stability [1−3]. The application of FCs as construction materials is of great significance to energy conservation and environmental protection. However, the raw materials used for FCs preparation mainly include pure Al2O3, SiO2, ZrO2, clay and kaolin [4, 5]. In addition, most of the reported FCs were prepared at a sintering temperature higher than 1200 ℃, but high temperature means more energy is consumed. As a result, the complicated and expensive (both raw material and sintering cost) fabrication process has limited the large-scale application of the porous ceramics [6].
Industrial solid wastes including tailings and metallurgical slags have occupied a large amount of land and polluted the soil and groundwater, arousing great attention in recent years [7−10]. Tailings and/or metallurgical slags always contain abundant active silica (aluminum) oxygen tetrahedrons, metal oxides and other useful components. Therefore, the safe utilization of tailings and metallurgical slags as alternative raw materials of FCs is of great concern [11]. Up to now, many researchers have found that FCs with better performance could be obtained by applying different industrial solid wastes as raw materials and supplementing appropriate additive components to adjust the contents of variant chemicals [12−15]. However, the solid wastes used for porous ceramic preparation are still limited to fly ash, coal gangue, steel slag and red mud. Moreover, the strength of as-prepared ceramics and the proportion of added solid wastes were relatively low, which impedes the large-scale consumption of solid wastes. Therefore, it is very important to prepare porous ceramics with a high proportion of solid waste at a relatively low sintering temperature.
Electrolytic manganese slag (MS), the by-product of electrolytic manganese industry with an output of 11 million tons per year in China [16], is usually deposited in the open air. If it is not handled properly, the heavy metals are easily leached out and then infiltrate into the ground. As a consequence, the treatment of MS has become the biggest obstacle to the development of electrolytic manganese industry in China. Due to the diversity of manganese production technology, the main compositions of MS are slightly different, but they generally include SiO2, Al2O3, and various Ca, Fe and Mn oxides or sulfides, indicating that the MS could also be applied as pristine materials for porous ceramics fabrication. Besides, the interaction among variant components might benefit in constructing strong FCs even at lower sintering temperatures. However, there was no report on the fabrication of FCs employing MS as raw materials, and the possibility and superiority of MS-based ceramics need to be full
Loading authentic research manuscript (Pages 1–5)...
LI Meng-ke, GENG Zi-han, XU Xin, CAI Xin-yi, LIU Yun, CHEN Yue-hui, YOU Zhi-min, GUO Jing, WANG Jun, YANG Bao-jun (2026). A novel green porous ceramics fabricated simply by utilizing both manganese slag and silicate tailings as raw materials at low temperature. Journal of Central South University. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-026-6265-7
Research & Educational Purpose Only:The translations, structured abstracts, analytical annotations, and data reports provided by SinoTechIntel are intended exclusively for academic research, internal corporate R&D, and educational benchmarking. They do not constitute formal engineering, chemical safety, legal, or professional advice.
Copyright & Intellectual Property Notice: Original copyright of the underlying source articles and experimental data remains with the respective authors, institutions, and original publishing journals. SinoTechIntel claims intellectual property only over its proprietary translations, analytical syntheses, and AEO structured enhancements in accordance with international fair use and academic citation principles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main raw materials used in this study?
The main raw materials are electrolytic manganese slag (MS) and silicate tailings, both industrial solid wastes.
What is the optimal sintering temperature and SiC content for ceramic foaming?
The optimal sintering temperature is 1140°C with 0.4 wt% SiC content.
How does the addition of manganese slag affect the ceramic properties?
Increasing MS content from 8.33 wt% to 41.67 wt% reduces porosity from 78.4% to 63.7%, increases bulk density from 0.96 to 1.13 g/cm³, and increases bending strength from 8.43 to 11.22 MPa.
What is the significance of this work?
This work demonstrates a low-temperature method to fabricate porous ceramics using high proportions of solid wastes, contributing to waste utilization and environmental protection.
What is the corrosion resistance of the ceramics?
The best corrosion resistance performance reached 99.55% with 8.33 wt% MS content and a sintering temperature of 1160°C.
Related Technical Papers & Translations
Direct Repair of the Crystal Structure and Coating Surface of Spent LiFePO4 Materials Enables Superfast Li-Ion Migration
The rapid accumulation of spent LiFePO4 (LFP) cathodes from retired lithium-ion batteries necessitates the development of effective and environmental-friendly recycling strategies. In this context, direct regeneration has emerged as a promising approach for reclaiming LFP cathode materials, offering a streamlined pathway to restore their electrochemical functionality. We report an integrated regeneration protocol that simultaneously repairs the degraded crystal structure and reconstructs the damaged carbon coating in spent LFP. The regenerated cathode material had superfast lithium-ion diffusion kinetics and a stable cathode–electrolyte interface, giving a remarkable rate capability with specific capacities of 122 mAh g−1 at 5C and 106 mAh g−1 at 10C (1C = 170 mA g−1). It also maintained capacities of 110.7 mAh g−1 (5C) and 84.1 mAh g−1 (10C) after 400 cycles. It could be used in harsh environments and could be stably cycled at subzero temperatures (−10 and −20 °C) and in solid-state electrolyte batteries. Life cycle assessment combined with economic evaluation using the EverBatt model reveals that this direct regeneration approach has high economic and environmental benefits.
Oxide Semiconductor for Advanced Memory Architectures: Atomic Layer Deposition, Key Requirement and Challenges
Oxide semiconductors (OSs), introduced by the Hosono group in the early 2000s, have evolved from display backplane materials to promising candidates for advanced memory and logic devices. The exceptionally low leakage current of OSs and compatibility with three-dimensional (3D) architectures have recently sparked renewed interest in their use in semiconductor applications. This review begins by exploring the unique material properties of OSs, which fundamentally originate from their distinct electronic band structure. Subsequently, we focus on atomic layer deposition (ALD), a core technique for growing excellent OS films, covering both basic and advanced processes compatible with 3D scaling. The basic surface reaction mechanisms—adsorption and reaction—and their roles in film growth are introduced. Furthermore, material design strategies, such as cation selection, crystallinity control, anion doping, and heterostructure engineering, are discussed. We also highlight challenges in memory applications, including contact resistance, hydrogen instability, and lack of p-type materials, and discuss the feasibility of ALD-grown OSs as potential solutions. Lastly, we provide an outlook on the role of ALD-grown OSs in memory technologies. This review bridges material fundamentals and device-level requirements, offering a comprehensive perspective on the potential of ALD-driven OSs for next-generation semiconductor memory devices.
Laser powder bed fusion of biodegradable Zn-4Cu alloy: Processing, microstructure and properties
Zn's natural degradability and biocompatibility make it a promising candidate for implants, however, its mechanical properties remain insufficient for bone applications. In this study, the performance of Zn was enhanced by developing Zn-Cu alloys via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). Optimal LPBF parameters for forming stable tracks were achieved by adjusting laser power and scanning speed. Under optimized conditions of 100 W and 100 mm/s, high-density (99.58%) Zn-Cu alloys with improved hardness (68.2HV) and yield strength (160 MPa) were achieved. These improvements are attributed to solid solution strengthening, segregation strengthening, and grain refinement. The Zn-Cu alloys also demonstrated favorable degradation behavior, with a rate of 0.16 mm/year. This degradation is primarily driven by micro-galvanic corrosion between the CuZn5 phase and Zn matrix, along with refined grains and increased grain boundary density. This work demonstrates a viable strategy for fabricating Zn-based implants with enhanced structural integrity and mechanical performance via LPBF.