Porcelain insulators prepared from locally available ceramic materials, such as Hosaena clay, quartz, partially replaced feldspar by cullet (rich in alkaline materials). The physical and electrical properties, such as water absorption, apparent porosity, bulk density, linear shrinkage, and dielectric strength as a function of firing temperature, were evaluated. The XRD and AAS measurement results show Hosaenna clay mainly belongs to kaolinite minerals with a sufficient SiO2 (45.60wt. %), Al2O3 (35.52wt. %), and it possesses reasonable plasticity nature. The SEM and Electrical properties measurement shows the porcelain insulators fired at 1150 C & 1200 C showed homogenized primary and secondary mullite with optimum glassy phase and good dielectric strength for practical applications. The primary & secondary mullite and glassy phases were grown early at a firing temperature of 1150 and 1200 C, due to the partial replacement of feldspar by cullet. The porcelain insulator prepared from the composition of 45%clay, 35%feldspar, 10%quartz and 10%cullet and fired at 1200 C showed dielectric strength 8.9kv/mm, water absorption (0.459%), apparent porosity (1.530%), bulk density (4.29 g/cm 3 ), and linear shrinkage (4.18%). Therefore, incorporating economic alkaline materials such as cullet to improve the alkalinity of the locally available clay materials, Hosaenna clay, Arero feldspar, and Arero quartz reduces the firing temperature with excellent dielectric strength.

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Porcelain is the most widely used overhead power-line insulator. The demands for porcelain insulators have increased dramatically owing to a sharp increase in the electric power demand and supply. Usually, porcelain production demands high sintering temperatures. Herein, an electrical porcelain insulator was produced from Bombowha clay and Arero quartz and partially replaced feldspar with sodium carbonate at a reduced processing temperature. The porcelain samples were prepared by fixing the clay and quartz amount 45 and 10 wt%, respectively, and the portion of feldspar was replaced by 5, 7.5, and 10 wt% of alkaline-rich sodium carbonate. The desired composition was milled, shaped, and finally sintered at 1000, 1100, and 1200 °C. The XRD and SEM results show the early formation of quartz and mullite phases at 1000 °C, which determine the mechanical and dielectric strengths of the porcelains. The dielectric strength of the samples increases with increasing the alkaline-rich sodium carbonate content owing to the vitrification and needle-shaped mullite formation. The porcelain sample with 10 wt% of Na2CO3 content and a sintering temperature of 1200 °C has an optimum dielectric strength of 7.60 kV mm−1.

In this article, highly porous and transparent silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) gels are synthesized from Bis(Triethoxysilyl) methane (BTEM). The gels are synthesized by the sol-gel technique followed by both ambient pressure and supercritical drying. Then, the portion of wet gels have been pyrolyzed in a hydrogen atmosphere at 800 and 1100 °C. The FT-IR spectroscopy analysis and nitrogen sorption results indicate the successful synthesis of Si-O-Si bonds and the formation of mesopores. From a hysteresis loop, the SiOC ceramics showed the H1 type characteristic with well-defined cylindrical pore channels for the aerogel and the H2 type for the ambigel samples, indicating that the pores are distorted due to the capillary stress. The produced gels are mesoporous materials having high surface areas with a maximum of 1140 m2/g and pore volume of 2.522 cm3/g obtained from BTEM aerogels. The pyrolysis of BTEM aerogels at 800 °C results in the production of a bulk and transparent sample with a slightly pale white color, while BTEM xerogels are totally transparent and colorless at the same temperature. At 1100 °C, all the aerogels become opaque brown, confirming the formation of free carbon and crystalline silicon.

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