Preparation and physical properties of foamed ceramics from shale residue

Foamed ceramic materials were prepared by shale residue and manganese slag as the primary raw materials, magnesium oxide as flux and silicon carbide as a foaming agent. The results show that the amount of shale residue has a significant effect on the physical properties of the foamed ceramics. The pore size of the foamed ceramics increases significantly with the increase of shale addition. By comparing A1, A2, A3 and A4, it is found that A2 is more suitable for producing foamed ceramics, with compressive strength of 14.20 Mpa, bulk density of 0.4425 g cm–3 and thermal conductivity of 0.1204 (w m–1k–1). The phase composition of foamed ceramics after sintering is mainly anorthite, galaxite and quartz.