As chemical analysis They are among the most used analytical techniques for the characterization of industrial minerals and inorganic compounds. They can be performed using different techniques: XRF (X-ray fluorescence), ICP (inductive coupling plasma), EAA (atomic absorption spectrometry), etc.; and provide information regarding the proportion between the chemical elements that make up the compounds.
Its importance is due to the fact that many of the properties of minerals and inorganic compounds are determined, in the first instance, by their chemical composition. In this context, Chemical analyses can be very useful to indicate, for example, the purity of certain minerals and chemical compounds, as well as the nature and proportion of contaminants present.
In the case of traditional ceramic materials, many behaviors can be predicted or explained from chemical analyses, such as burning color (altamente dependente dos teores de Al2O3, Fe2O3 e TiO2), the viscosity of the glasses (affected by SiO2, Na2O e K2O), a refractoriness e a fusibility of raw materials (SiO2/Al2O3 and alkalis) and even toxicity (presence of chumbo e outros metais pesados) e a radioatividade (teores de thorium and uranium) of certain compounds. In this context, Chemical analyses are widely used in the research of new raw materials, development of equivalent products for existing compounds e para o quality control of production batches.
A frequent mistake, however, is to use chemical analysis as the only information to predict or explain certain phenomena, which are affected by factors other than chemical composition. In this context, the combination of Chemical analyses with other characterization techniques (mineralogical analysis, de particle sizes, de specific surface area, etc.) is fundamental. Therefore, in addition to selecting the most appropriate chemical analysis technique for the elements and concentrations of interest, it is essential to know the potential of each laboratory analysis, so that they can effectively contribute to solving industrial problems.