Synthesis and Acid Digestion of Biomorphic Ceramics: Determination of Alkaline and Alkaline Earth Ions

Ceramic and glass are some of the more recent engineering materials and those that are most resistant to environmental conditions. They belong to advanced materials in that they are being developed for the aerospace and electronics industries. In the last decade, a new class of ceramic materials has been the focus of particular attention. The materials were produced with natural, renewable resources (wood or wood-based products). In this work, we have synthesised a new biomorphic ceramic material from oak wood and Si infiltration. After the material characterization, we have optimized the dissolution of the sample by acid attack in an oven under microwave irradiation. Experimental designs were used as a multivariate strategy for the evaluation of the effects of varying several variables at the same time. The optimization was performed in two steps using factorial design for preliminary evaluation and a Draper-Lin design for determination of the critical experimental conditions. Five variables (time, power, volume of HNO₃, volume H₂SO₄ and volume of HF) were considered as factors and as a response the concentration of different metal ions in the optimization process. Interactions between analytical factors and their optimal levels were investigated using a Draper-Lin design.