Utilization of agricultural residues in ceramic tiles: A review

Abstract

The cost of ceramics used in tile production has become increasingly prohibitive, yet the need for housing and other constructions requiring these materials keeps growing with increasing population across the globe. The cost of ceramics extraction is consequently increasing and the process results into depletion of land for cultivation and also poses high risks of environmental pollution. The review presents an extensive analysis of the utilization of agricultural residues in ceramic tile manufacturing over the past decade (2014–2024). Eight agricultural residues were analyzed, including sugarcane bagasse (SCB), rice husks (RH), wheat straws (WS), corn cobs (CC), coconut shells (CS), coffee husks (CH), palm kernel shells (PKS) and peanut shells (PS) for their suitability as fillers in ceramic tiles. These residues have been studied in terms of ashes and fibers. Most of these agricultural residue ashes have high silica content, leading to their utilization as supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to reduce on the amount of ceramics incorporated in tiles. High silica content in ash of agricultural residues plays the vital role of an effective pozzolan, leading to enhanced pozzolanic reactions. This results into better performance of ceramic tiles through improving its mechanical properties such as compressive strength and flexural strength. For the best combination of residues and ceramics, the percentage of porosity, water absorption and linear shrinkage reduces significantly while the bulk density and bending strength increases.