Synthesis and properties of porous bricks obtained with the use of spherical expanded polystyrene particles of packaging material

Edgar Bernal,Rene Tapia,Marina Vlasova,Mykola Kakazey,Aguilar Márquez

doi:10.2298/sos2001025b

Abstract

In the present work, the prospects of using wastes of a packaging material consisting of spherical expanded polystyrene (EPS) particles for the manufacture of porous ceramics/bricks are considered. Ceramics were obtained from mixtures of red clay-grinded cullet - EPS particles. To reduce the release of toxic products of thermal destruction of EPS, two sintering modes have been developed. During sintering in the atmosphere, the two-stage temperature regime was carried out, which ensured preliminary dehydration of the clay and a quick transition to sintering at 1000?C. During sintering in conditions of oxygen deficiency in firing furnaces, the temperature gradually rises to 1000?C. At that, the sintering process is characterized by the absence of release of toxic products, and the carbonization of porous bricks. It has been established that, depending on the composition of the mixtures and the sintering conditions, it is possible to obtain durable wall ceramics with good thermal and sound insulation properties. Carbonized ceramics have enhanced strength properties due to the formation of forsterite. The presence of free carbon in the pores imparts adsorbing properties to carbonized ceramics and contributes to the appearance of electrical conductivity.

Highlights

Nowadays, production engineers dealing with ceramics are facing an important problem of the development of new ceramic materials for structural and functional applications with the integration of wastes of organic and inorganic origin into the technological cycle [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
From the semi quantitative evaluation of the contents of the phase shown in Figs. 1 b, c it follows that the contents of some phases in the specimens depend upon the clay content in the initial mixtures: the higher the clay content in the initial clay–glass mixtures, the larger the sillimanite content in the ceramics
The larger the amount of glass introduced into the initial mixtures, the higher the intensity of the halo recorded in the X-ray diffraction patterns

Summary

Introduction

Production engineers dealing with ceramics are facing an important problem of the development of new ceramic materials for structural and functional applications with the integration of wastes of organic and inorganic origin into the technological cycle [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Progress made in the production of ceramic materials for special application promotes the transition to the synthesis of composite ceramics, which makes it possible to obtain improved properties and extend the fields of the traditional application of ceramics. This concerns the development of modern efficient building materials, combining the properties of wall structural, heat-insulating, and sound-insulating materials.

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Conclusion