Mechanical behaviour of porous kaolin-based ceramics for potential catalysts support applications

In this study, porous kaolin-based ceramic support materials were successfully fabricated using conventional sintering techniques. The support materials were prepared using two different weight per cent (wt.%) of sawdust addition (10–20 wt.%), compacted at 10–20 MPa and sintered at 900 and 1000 °C. The physical and mechanical properties of the support materials as formed by sintering were examined, while the failure rate of the fabricated support materials was determined using Weibull statistical tool. The experimental data show that the best result for the hardness and fracture toughness was obtained as 0.409 GPa and 0.835 MPa·m1/2 for supports sintered at 1000 °C with 20 wt. % pore formers. The mass loss for the support materials with the best properties was reported to be about 5%, making the support a potential material for use as catalyst support. The Weibull modulus (m) obtained for the ceramic support was in a range of 2.75–4.00, indicating that the samples had a lower failure rate than most ceramic support materials with a Weibull modulus of more than 6. The control samples and samples with the inclusion of pore formers demonstrated acoustic emission (AE) response during the entire cooling process during the acoustic emission test. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]