Recent Advances in Methods for Recovery of Cenospheres from Fly Ash and Their Emerging Applications in Ceramics, Composites, Polymers and Environmental Cleanup

Virendra Kumar Yadav,Neha Gupta,Saiful Islam,Byong-Hun Jeon,Nisha Choudhary,Krishna Kumar Yadav,G Gnanamoorthy,Vineet Tirth,Cao Truong Son,Ashok Jangid

doi:10.3390/cryst11091067

Abstract

Coal fly ash (CFA) is a major global pollutant produced by thermal power plants during the generation of electricity. A significant amount of coal fly ash is dumped every year in the near vicinity of the thermal power plants, resulting in the spoilage of agricultural land. CFA has numerous value-added structural elements, such as cenospheres, plerospheres, ferrospheres, and carbon particles. Cenospheres are spherical-shaped solid-filled particles, formed during the combustion of coal in thermal power plants. They are lightweight, have high mechanical strength, and are rich in Al-Si particles. Due to cenospheres’ low weight and high mechanical strength, they are widely used as ceramic/nanoceramics material, fireproofing material, and in nanocomposites. They are also used directly, or after functionalization, as an adsorbent for environmental cleanup—especially for the removal of organic and inorganic contaminants from wastewater. By utilizing this waste material as an adsorbent, the whole process becomes economical and eco-friendly. In this review, we have highlighted the latest advances in the cenospheres recovery from fly ash and their application in ceramics and wastewater treatment.

Highlights

IntroductionCoal fly ash (CFA) is one of the major pollutants of the 20th and 21st centuries
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Coal fly ash (CFA) is one of the major pollutants of the 20th and 21st centuries.It has drawn global attention regarding its safe management, optimized generation, and utilization [1]
CFA is considered hazardous waste, due to the presence of numerous heavy metals. It has been categorized into useable materials in the last decade, due to their minerals and structurally important structures, such as cenospheres, plerospheres, and ferrospheres

Summary

Introduction

Coal fly ash (CFA) is one of the major pollutants of the 20th and 21st centuries. It has drawn global attention regarding its safe management, optimized generation, and utilization [1]. A million tons of CFA are generated per year, in thermal power plants (TPPs), from the burning of pulverized coal, during the production of electricity [2]. The huge amount of generation of CFA leads to air, water, and soil pollution.

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