Valorisation of boron mining wastes in the production of wall and floor tiles

A huge volume of boron mining wastes is generated in boron producing countries every year, necessitating the need to find a viable valorisation solution urgently. Their potential in the production of ceramic tiles to curb energy consumption in the ceramics manufacture has been investigated. The 5-6 wt% waste-containing ceramic tile formulations proposed had a boron oxide (B2O3) content in the range from 1 to 33 wt%. Owing to the fluxing ability of B2O3, the sintering temperature of the developed wall tile ceramics decreased down 70 °C-1050 °C, sintering temperature of the developed floor tile ceramics decreased down to 1130 °C, 65 °C lower compared to benchmarked commercial ceramics. The mechanical, chemical and physical properties of the new compositions were comparable to those of typical commercial products. The developed wall tiles had a water absorption of 19.39% and 20.46 N/mm2 strength providing the requirements of TS EN ISO 10545 standard, where floor tiles had a 0.49% water absorption and 38.43 N/mm2 strength. There is considerable scope to incorporate boron mining waste in the production of more sustainable ceramics at industrial scales.