Preparation of glass-ceramics from vermiculite clay mineral

In this study glass-ceramics were produced from vermiculite, a clay mineral found in abundance in the Northeast of Brazil. These materials were characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, the Vickers microhardness test and scanning electron microscopy. Chemical analysis revealed the material contains a wide variety of metal oxides which are potentiators of crystal formation in glass-ceramics. XRD patterns indicating sodium aluminosilicates as the main crystalline phase in all the samples treated at 750 oC. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images show crystalline regions in all the samples.