Used and Broken Hangers as a Substitute for Commercially Produced Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) in Making Ceramic Tiles

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Philippines is the third world's largest contributor of various garbage, specifically plastics. Using plastics in producing various materials, such as floor tiles, is one of the ways to lessen garbage and pollution. This experimental research determined the feasibility of the used and broken hangers as a substitute for CaCO3 in making ceramic tiles. Specifically, the characteristic of the produced floor tiles in terms of flexural strength was tested. Likewise, the significant difference between the physical properties of the produced floor tiles of the two treatments was emphasized.

METHODS

This study is a quantitative type of research. It involved two treatments with three replications each. Both treatments were tested to determine the flexural strength of the tiles. T1 contains 12.5g of hangers, 87.5g of bentonite, 50g of cement, and 50mL of water while T2 contains 25g of hangers, 75g of bentonite, 50g of cement, and 50mL of water. The data was then prepared for analysis.

RESULTS

In analysing the characteristic of the produced floor tiles in terms of flexural strength, the results showed that the mean score of T1 is 256 MPa while T2 has a mean score of 200 MPa. Furthermore, the two treatments were compared using independent t-test with a critical value of 2.13, where a t-value of 0.359056 was obtained which shows that there is no significant difference between the flexural strength of the two treatments. Based on the results, it can be inferred that T1 has a higher flexural strength than T2.

On the other hand, in comparing T1 to the commercially available ones in terms of flexural strength, independent t-test with a critical value of 2.13, where a t-value of 0.675177 was obtained which implies that there is no significant difference between the flexural strength of T1 and the commercially available ceramic floor tiles.

DISCUSSIONS

Thus, this study found out that ceramic floor tiles out of used and broken hangers and the commercially available ones show no significant difference. Also, it can be concluded that it is feasible to produce ceramic floor tiles out of broken plastic hangers.