UPCYCLING OF BORO-ALUMINO-SILICATE PHARMACEUTICAL GLASS IN SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
- Giulia Tameni - Department of Industrial Engineering and RU INSTM, University of Padova, Italy
- Francesco Cammelli - Department of Industrial Engineering and RU INSTM, University of Padova, Italy
- Hamada Elsayed - Department of Industrial Engineering and RU INSTM, University of Padova, Italy - Refractories, Ceramics and Building Materials Department, National Research Centre, Egypt
- Francesco Stangherlin - Terreal Italia Srl, Italy
- Enrico Bernardo - Department of Industrial Engineering and RU INSTM, University of Padova, Italy
- Available online in Detritus - Volume 20 - September 2022
- Pages 17-21
Released under CC BY-NC-ND
Copyright: © 2022 CISA Publisher
Abstract
The present Covid-19 emergency has dramatically increased the demand for pharmaceutical containers and the amounts of related waste. This paper aims at presenting the upcycling of discarded pharmaceutical glass into various porous ceramics, starting from the activation of fine powders suspended in weakly alkaline solutions (2.5 M NaOH/KOH). The alkaline attack determines the gelation of glass suspensions, according to hydration of glass surfaces, followed by condensation starting from 40 °C (‘cold consolidation’). Alkali are mostly expelled from the gel, according to the formation of water-soluble hydrated carbonates. The mutual binding of activated powders was exploited for the encapsulation of waste-derived glass (from the plasma processing of municipal solid waste) and quartz sand as coarse aggregate. Moreover, industrial mud could be used instead of water in the preparation of alkaline solutions. Depending on the formulations, products comparable to facing bricks can be obtained directly after cold consolidation or after application of low temperature (700 °C) firing. In addition, selected formulations led to highly porous glass foams, to be used for thermal and acoustic insulation.Keywords
Editorial History
- Received: 17 Jun 2022
- Revised: 01 Sep 2022
- Accepted: 15 Sep 2022
- Available online: 20 Sep 2022
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