Abstract
Glass wool waste remains a challenging waste fraction with relatively little utilization prospects. The present study investigated the development of porous ceramic materials from glass wool waste and spodumene tailings mainly made of quartz feldspar sand (QFS), with 0.05–0.5% silica carbide (SiC) as a pore-forming agent. The formulated compositions were sintered at 950 °C and analyzed in terms of mechanical properties, phase composition, and microstructure using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray micro-computed tomography. The results showed that a synergetic effect of glass wool and SiC started to be significant from 15 wt% glass wool and 0.05 wt% SiC, the strength reducing and the porosity increasing with the increase of SiC. The porous ceramics were largely amorphous, with compressive strength ranging from 5 to 30 MPa while the water absorption and apparent density ranged from 2 to 10% and 0.7–1.2 g/cm3, respectively. The total porosity varied between 20 and 75%, and the wall thickness between 62 and 68 μm; besides, most of the prepared materials floated in water. These results are of interest for the repurposing of glass wool waste in the development of non-flammable lightweight materials for potential filtering or high-rise building applications.
Highlights
Owing to their low density and good thermal and chemical stability, porous ceramics have been widely used in many fields, including filters, catalyst supports, sound absorbing, and reinforcements of composites [1,2,3,4,5]
With the need to mitigate the pressure on the limited primary resources, investigations into the potential use of waste streams in the development of porous ceramics has become a notable research topic [13,14,15,16]; some reported waste streams used in the development of porous ceramics include nickel smelting slag [1], kerf waste [17], soda-lime-silica glass [18], stone wool waste and recycled glass [9], coal fly ash and asbestos tailings [19], gold tailings [6], granite scraps [11], turmeric residue [20], and red mud [21]
The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of milled quartz feldspar sand (QFS) showed that the particles were angular and irregular in shape
Summary
Owing to their low density and good thermal and chemical stability, porous ceramics have been widely used in many fields, including filters, catalyst supports, sound absorbing, and reinforcements of composites [1,2,3,4,5]. They have been considered as good thermal insulating ma terials for high-rise buildings in comparison to organic insulators that presented some limitations associated with their flammability and easy aging [6]. The reuse of waste streams instead of landfilling is encouraged by international regulations, with the aim to contribute to circular economy and sustainability [22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
