Ultra-light ceramic foams were successfully prepared by a green spheres technique, which used waste glass powder and fly ash as the main material. Besides, borax and SiC were introduced as fluxing agent and foaming agent, respectively. The effects of fly ash content, borax content and sintering temperature on the microstructures and properties of ceramic foams were systematically investigated. The optimum composition is 30 wt-% fly ash, 70 wt-% waste glass, 15 wt-% borax and 0.5 wt-% SiC. Ultra-light ceramic foams sintered at 680–780°C possess bulk density of 0.14–0.41 g cm−3, porosity of 82.9–94.1%, compressive strength of 0.91–6.37 MPa and thermal conductivity of 0.070–0.121 W m−1 K−1, respectively. This method is convenient, low-cost and environment friendly, which makes it a promising way for recycling solid wastes.
BlissettRS, RowsonNA.A review of the multi-component utilisation of coal fly ash. Fuel. 2012;97:1–23. doi: 10.1016/j.fuel.2012.03.024
2.
BoccacciniAR, BückerM, BossertJ, Glass matrix composites from coal fly ash and waste glass. Waste Manage. 1997;17:39–45. doi: 10.1016/S0956-053X(97)00035-4
3.
ShengJ, HuangB, ZhangH, Production of glass from coal fly ash. Fuel. 2003;82(2):181–185. doi: 10.1016/S0016-2361(02)00238-7
4.
AhmaruzzamanM.A review on the utilization of fly ash. Prog Energ Combust. 2010;36(3):327–363. doi: 10.1016/j.pecs.2009.11.003
5.
ZhuM, JiR, LiZ, Preparation of glass ceramic foams for thermal insulation applications from coal fly ash and waste glass. Constr Build Mater. 2016;112:398–405. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.02.183
6.
GuoY, ZhangY, HuangH, Novel glass ceramic foams materials based on red mud. Ceram Int. 2014;40(5):6677–6683. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2013.11.128
7.
ZhangQ, HeF, ShuH, Preparation of high strength glass ceramic foams from waste cathode ray tube and germanium tailings. Constr Build Mater. 2016;111:105–110. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.01.036
8.
LyckfeldtO, FerreiraJMF.Processing of porous ceramics by ‘Starch Consolidation’. J Eur Ceram Soc. 1998;18:131–140. doi: 10.1016/S0955-2219(97)00101-5
9.
YinH, MaM, BaiJ, Fabrication of foam glass from iron tailings. Mater Lett. 2016;185:511–513. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2016.09.034
10.
HasheminiaS, NematiA, Eftekhari YektaB, Preparation and characterization of diopside-based glass-ceramic foams. Ceram Int. 2012;38(3):2005–2010. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2011.10.035
11.
RamboCR, SieberH, GenovaLA.Synthesis of porous biomorphic α/β-Si3N4 composite from sea sponge. J Porous Mat. 2008;15(4):419–425. doi: 10.1007/s10934-007-9101-y
12.
SilvaSA, BrunelliDD, MeloFCL, Preparation of a reticulated ceramic using vegetal sponge as templating. Ceram Int. 2009;35(4):1575–1579. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2008.08.018
FernandesHR, TulyaganovDU, FerreiraJMF.Preparation and characterization of foams from sheet glass and fly ash using carbonates as foaming agents. Ceram Int. 2009;35(1):229–235. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2007.10.019
15.
StudartAR, GonzenbachUT, TervoortE, Processing routes to macroporous ceramics: a review. J Am Ceram Soc. 2006;89(6):1771–1789. doi: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2006.01044.x
16.
QuY, XuJ, SuZ, Lightweight and high-strength glass foams prepared by a novel green spheres hollowing technique. Ceram Int. 2016;42(2):2370–2377. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2015.10.034
17.
SuZ, XiX, HuY, A new Al2O3 porous ceramic prepared by addition of hollow spheres. J Porous Mater. 2014;21(5):601–609. doi: 10.1007/s10934-014-9806-7
18.
ZhangX, WuJ, YangJ.Pore morphology designs of porous Si3N4-based ceramics using Si3N4 and Al2O3 poly-hollow microspheres as pore-forming agents. Mater Lett. 2015;144:39–42. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2015.01.010
19.
YangJ, CaiK, XiX, GeG, HuangY.Hebei YL-bangda new materials limited company. Process and device for the preparation of hollow microspheres comprising centrifugal atomization. United States Patent US 8,845,936. 2014 Sep 30.
20.
GuoY, ZhangY, HuangH, Novel glass ceramic foams materials based on polishing porcelain waste using the carbon ash waste as foaming agent. Constr Build Mater. 2016;125:1093–1100. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.08.134
21.
ChenX, LuA, QuG.Preparation and characterization of foam ceramics from red mud and fly ash using sodium silicate as foaming agent. Ceram Int. 2013;39(2):1923–1929. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.08.042
22.
ZhangR, FengJ, ChengX, Porous thermal insulation materials derived from fly ash using a foaming and slip casting method. Energ Build. 2014;81:262–267. doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.06.028
23.
RenS, LiuJ, GuoA, Mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of a temperature resistance hollow glass microspheres/borosilicate glass buoyance material. Mater Sci Eng A. 2016;674:604–614. doi: 10.1016/j.msea.2016.08.014
24.
LiuT, TangY, LiZ.Red mud and fly ash incorporation for lightweight foamed ceramics using lead-zinc mine tailings as foaming agent. Mater Lett. 2016;183:362–364. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2016.07.041
25.
BaiJ, YangX, XuS, Preparation of foam glass from waste glass and fly ash. Mater Lett. 2014;136:52–54. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2014.07.028
26.
ChenB, WangK, ChenX, Study of foam glass with high content of fly ash using calcium carbonate as foaming agent. Mater Lett. 2012;79:263–265. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2012.04.052
27.
DingL, NingW, WangQ, Preparation and characterization of glass-ceramic foams from blast furnace slag and waste glass. Mater Lett. 2015;141:327–329. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2014.11.122
28.
ZhaoL, LiY, ZhouY, Preparation of novel ceramics with high CaO content from steel slag. Mater Design. 2014;64:608–613. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2014.08.015
29.
BourretJ, Tessier-DoyenN, Naït-AliB, Effect of the pore volume fraction on the thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of kaolin-based foams. J Eur Ceram Soc. 2013;33(9):1487–1495. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2012.10.022
30.
PetersenRR, KönigJ, YueY.The mechanism of foaming and thermal conductivity of glasses foamed with MnO2. J Non-Cryst Solids. 2015;425:74–82. doi: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2015.05.030
