volcanic ash and eggshells

[paulo1913]

im doing an ivestigatory project in chemistry and im thinking of making ceramics out of volcanic ash (SiO2) and eggshells (CaCO3) as a cementing reagent.

 

im a geology student and my professor asked us to make a project related to our major.

 

so my questions are:

-is it possible to make ceramics out of eggshells and volcanic ash

-can i use eggshell as a super glue? do i have to melt it or just add chemicals

 

thanks...

[Melvin]

I would use oyster shells instead of egg shells for CaCO3. Egg shells have various proteins and other contaminants that oyster shells don't.

[John Cuthber]

I'm not a geochemist, but doesn't "volcanic ash" cover a huge range of possible materials?

[SkepticLance]

I dunno about ceramics, but you could, in theory, make cement out of those two. Heat the eggshells to quicklime, and blend with the right volcanic ash.

 

The ancient Romans discovered cement and built concrete structures. Their recipe involved heating ground up limestone for the quicklime and a local volcanic ash.

[DeanK2]

The quicklime would most certainably be availbale from the shell, but the amount of eggs needed is probably ten times what the supermarket stacks (for a respectable amount of cement). However, it would be straightforward to purify, once obtained.

[SkepticLance]

Looking back over my last post, I realised I forgot to add an important detail.

 

Cement is made by a chemical reaction between Calcium alkali and silicate. The Romans did it by mixing ground limestone and volcanic ash together and heating them in a furnace together. Under the heat, the limestone became quicklime which reacted with the silicates in the ash to form the mixture of Calcium Aluminium silicate materials we know as cement.