Production of Mayenite Nanoparticles from the Toxic Cement Dust

To overcome the key challenges associated with cement dust, such as inhalable size, toxic ions, and the existence of large quantities of useless materials, researchers investigated an innovative and unusual conversion of toxic cement dust into Mayenite nanoparticles. Mayenite is a natural structure that can be used as a filler in a variety of industrial applications. The formation of Mayenite nanoparticles was achieved through a thermal reaction at 1000°C for 2 h between cement dust and aluminum oxide. Different techniques were used to characterize the synthesized Mayenite nanoparticles, revealing the formation of the target phase as well as the reduction of toxic ions present in cement dust. According to Scherrer's equation, the crystallite size of bypass and synthesized Mayenite nanoparticles is 45 and 30 nm, respectively. Also, with the aid of TEM analysis, the particle size distribution of the produced Mayenite nanoparticles was found to be 27±7 nm. The toxic ions, especially chlorides and sulphates, were reduced by 86% and 50%, respectively, according to X-ray fluorescence results. These findings are important for the future use of Mayenite, 12CaO.7Al₂O₃ (C12A7), nanoparticles formed from toxic cement dust recycling.