Waste recycling of coal fly ash: A novel approach to prepare hierarchically porous coal fly ash/Al2O3 ceramic composite with high porosity and high strength templated by emulsion-assisted self-assembly

The coal fly ash (CFA) produced from coal-fired power generation is classified as a common solid waste; thus, improving the recovery and utilization rate of CFA is highly desirable. In this study, a novel strategy using CFA and Al2O3 as raw materials, to prepare hierarchically porous ceramic composites that serve as potential candidates for future building materials is developed. In this process, the well-developed self-assembly method in which an anionic modifier is used to prepare hydrophobic powders that form an attractive oil/water network via electrostatic interactions, thereby yielding honeycomb-like structures. In order to explore the mechanism of preparation, five samples with different mixture ratios of alumina and CFA were prepared according to 1: 0, 2: 1, 1: 1, 1: 2, and 0: 1 (Alumina: CFA). Compared with the sample prepared with pure CFA, the as-prepared CFA/Al2O3 composite exhibited both superior porosity and high mechanical property. When the porosity is as high as 73 ± 0.17%, the compressive strength is as high as 80.9 ± 3.4mpa (alumina: CFA = 1:1). As the porosity decreases to 49.3 ± 0.7%, the compressive strength reaches 159.33 ± 36.89mpa (alumina: CFA = 1:2). Moreover, this work obtains the highest compressive strength-porosity related B-value in comparison to previously reported CFA-based composites and provides a new insight into the effective recycling of CFA and offers a novel approach to prepare CFA/Al2O3 composite with excellent overall mechanical properties.