Characterisation of jarosite, fly ash and clay for their possible usage in the construction industry

In this paper, the mineralogical and physical characterisation of Jarosite, Clay and Fly ash was investigated. The XRD results revealed the presence of alacranite (AsS) and jarosite (K (Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6)) mineral phases in the hazardous jarosite, while clay was composed of Kaolinite (Al2Si2O5 (OH)4), Anatase (TiO2) and Quartz (SiO2). Furthermore, Fly ash contained phases Mullite (Al4.64Si1.36O9.68), Quartz (SiO2) and Calcium oxide silicate chloride (Ca2O2Si3Cl2). The XRF results confirmed that the Fly ash used is in class F (Hazardous material) . There were hazardous elements such as As and Pb in the Jarosite sample. Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) revealed differences in surfaces morphology and EDS results were in agreement with the XRF analysis. The densities of the samples were 3.13 g/cm3 , 2.67 g/cm3 and 2.21 g/cm3 for Jarosite, clay and Fly ash respectively. There was an increase in density with the increase of the percentage of Jarosite in the mixture whereas a decrease in density was noticed with the increase of Fly ash percentage in the mixture of Jarosite and clay