X-RAY DIFFRACTION PHASE ANALYSES OF MULLITE DERIVED FROM RICE HUSK SILICA

Main Authors: Simon Sembiring; Department of Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Lampung, Lampung 35145, Indonesia, Wasinton Simanjuntak; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science, University of Lampung, Lampung 35145, Indonesia
Format: Article application/pdf eJournal
Bahasa: eng
Terbitan: Directorate of Research and Community Engagement, Universitas Indonesia , 2012
Online Access: http://journal.ui.ac.id/index.php/science/article/view/1399
Daftar Isi:
  • In this study, mullite synthesized from aluminum nitrate hydrate [(Al(NO3)3.9H2O] and silica sol from rice husk was subjected to sintering treatment at temperatures of 900, 1000, 1100, 1200 and 1300 °C, and characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), followed by Rietveld refinement, and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The results indicate that in the sample sintered at 900 °C, no mullite phase was identified, but crystoballite and alumina were well detected. The formation of mullite started at temperature of 1000 °C and continued to grow at higher temperatures, resulted in increased weight percentage (wt%) from 62.62 to 92.29%, while crystoballite and alumina decreased from 22.42 to 1.25% and from 77.58 to 6.46 % respectively. A good correlation was found between the calculated and observed unit cells. For mullite phase, the unit cell dimensions are a = 7.545 nm, b = 7.689 nm and c = 2.884 nm, for crystoballite  a = b = 0.5531 nm and c = 0.6923 nm, and for alumina  a= b = 0.5026 nm, and c = 1.2808 nm. The DTA analyses revealed that in the untreated sample, only alumina and silica were detected, while in the sintered samples, the existence of mullite, alumina, and crystoballite are evident. Keywords: mullite, rice husk, Rietveld, structure, sintering