Effect of heat treatment on preparation of expanded perlite from Indonesian perlite rock

Abstract

Expanded perlite is a multifunctional material that has been widely used in Industry. Its light, porous, and high-temperature resistance has made it well known used for lightweight and fire-resistant materials. In this study, the expanded perlite was prepared from perlite rock originally from Padang Pariaman district, West Sumatra, Indonesia, by comparing two different heat treatment techniques. The heat treatment using a muffle furnace around 1000 °C cannot expand the perlite properly even though the heating time was up to 3 hours. While heating using a gas torch resulted in expanded perlite with good quality. The characteristics of the prepared expanded perlite were light (specific gravity of 0.15 g/cm3), porous, and high specific surface area. Based on these characteristics, the prepared expanded perlite has a high potential to be applied as a lightweight material.