Use of waste chicken eggshells as an alternative calcium carbonate source for filler purposes in the paper industry.

Abstract

Chicken eggshells, a common waste, are hard, brittle and in abundance. Their abundance has led to their poor disposal. These shells were collected, cleaned and part of them bleached, ground into a powder and the powder analyzed for its suitability as a filler in the paper industry. In the paper industry, fillers are used to reduce on the amount of fiber required in the paper manufacture. Commonly used fillers are calcium carbonate, clay (or kaolin), titanium dioxide and talc (hydrated magnesium silicate). In addition, calcium carbonate can also be used to increase the paper opacity. A fine powder was obtained and the calcium carbonate composition determined for both the unbleached and bleached one. The eggshell powder was analyzed using XRD and results compared with PCC results. The calcium carbonate was found to be 85% and 92.5% for the unbleached and bleached powder respectively. The chicken eggshell powder was found to have magnesium calcite structure. The observed results all aligned the eggshell powder for use as a filler in the paper industry.