Investigation of Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Pyrophyllite-Impregnated Natural Fiber Fabrics

Date

2025-07-17

Author

Aykasım, Devin
Toksoy Köksal, Fatma

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Pyrophyllite, typically found in association with metamorphic rocks and hydrothermal veins, is widely utilized inglobal industries due to its low cost, favorable mechanical properties, and excellent thermal resistance. It plays asignificant role in the production of refractories, heat-resistant ceramics, paints, paper, fiberglass, cosmetics,plastics, rubber, fertilizers, and insecticides.Detailed mineralogical, crystallographic and geochemical studies based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM),energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses on samplesfrom various locations of the Pütürge region of Malatya, where hosts the majority of pyrophyllite deposits inTürkiye, revealed that the samples include pyrophyllite, quartz, muscovite, kaolinite and illite with varyingpercentages of iron, magnesium and titanium. Based on their pyrophyllite content and elemental suitability forindustrial applications, the samples were classified into low, medium, and high-quality groups.In an effort to develop eco-friendly insulation materials, fine-grained high-quality pyrophyllite powders withuniform particle sizes were impregnated into natural fabrics, namely jute, cotton, linen and wool, and thermaland mechanical performances of the resulting composites were examined. The fabric samples were mercerized inan alkaline solution to enhance surface reactivity and to promote better interaction with the binder solution.Using the dip-coating method, the fabrics were immersed in a pyrophyllite-rich binder solution and subsequentlysubjected to a short-time thermal treatment.Post-treatment analyses revealed that the pyrophyllite-impregnated fabrics exhibited a significant loss ofelasticity, observable darkening in color, and minor fiber degradation due to chemical abrasion. However,bonding between pyrophyllite particles and the fabric fibers substantially enhanced the thermal resistance andflame retardancy of the fabrics. These findings indicate that pyrophyllite-impregnated natural fiber fabrics arebetter suited for applications in eco-friendly thermal insulation panel production rather than for use in the textileor apparel industries.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/119673

Collections

Department of Geological Engineering, Conference / Seminar