In relation to density control in manufacturing fire-proof insulating material of xonotlite, studies were made to investigate crystal shape and size controls of xonotlite producing hydro-thermally at 197°C (15kgf/cm
2) for required time after grinding and mixing quick lime (CaO, 97%) and silica stone (SiO
2, 98%) with changing from 0.90 to 1.05 in CaO/SiO
2 mole ratio and from 8 to 30 in water/solid-material ratio.
Characterization of xonotlite was carried by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron-microscopic observation, bulk density measurement and so on.
The most important factor for controlling crystal size and bulk density of spherical secondary particles was water/solid-material ratio in hydrothermal reaction of CaO-SiO
2-H
2O system. For an example, in the case of CaO/SiO
2 mole ratio 0.975, mean size of the particles was about 60 μm (bulk density 0.13g/cm
3) with water/solid-material ratio 30 while about 30 μm (0.20g/ cm
3) with water/solid-material ratio 8. On the other hand, mean size of the particles could be grown to about 100 μm in size by the coexistence of KOH solution. The trial preparation and characteristics of artificial wood-like material for building using xonotlite of different density were also discussed.
View full abstract