Structural And Morphological Studies Of Magnesia Raw Materials Of Uzbekistan

The development of refractory materials based on local magnesia–silicate resources of Uzbekistan is a promising approach for resource conservation and import substitution. In this study, a comparative assessment of serpentinites from the Sultan-Uvays (Republic of Karakalpakstan) and Arvaten (Jizzakh region) deposits was carried out as a raw-material base for producing magnesia refractories of the MgO-SiO₂ system. The chemical composition and impurity components were analyzed, and the structural and morphological features of the samples were investigated using FTIR spectroscopy and SEM-EDS. According to the SEM-EDS results, the spectra are dominated by O-Si-Mg signals, while Fe peaks show relatively low intensity and only trace impurities are detected. The FTIR spectra exhibit characteristic bands of the serpentine structure (ν(OH) ~3565-3675 cm⁻¹, Si-O ~954-1069 cm⁻¹, and Si-O-Mg/Mg-O modes ~734-400 cm⁻¹). The obtained results confirm the potential of serpentinites from both deposits as local magnesia-silicate raw materials and substantiate their use for producing MgO-SiO₂ refractory materials, including forsterite-type compositions.