Synthesis and characterization of foam glass from solid waste

Population growth coupled with high consumption has considerably increased the generation of solid waste. Several are the negative impacts generated by the incorrect destination of these wastes. Therefore, the use of waste is becoming attractive both in economic and in environmental terms. In this sense, the present work demonstrates the production of foam glass with low environmental impact, using as raw material glass residues of fluorescent lamps and red eggshell as a foaming agent. The precursor agents had their chemical compositions, crystal structures and granulometry elucidated by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and laser scattering analysis techniques, respectively. The thermogravimetric analysis was used to evaluate the loss of mass of the red eggshell during the heating. The foam glass was formulated with 7 wt% of foaming agents, shaped by uniaxial pressing and burned between 650 degrees C and 850 degrees C at a heating rate of 2.5 degrees C/min. The influence of firing temperature in the expansion, density, and porosity of the ceramic cups obtained was evaluated. The foam glasses have their volumetric expansions evaluated, and their microstructures were characterized by light microscopy. The results showed the production of foam glass highly porous glassy with high expansion between 122-266%, and low-density ranging from 0.37 to 0.65 g.cm(-3), and the best results were achieved at 750 degrees C. The material obtained has great potential for applications in the civil industry, such as thermal and acoustic insulation, as well as the decrease of environmental impacts caused by the undue discharge of fluorescent lamps and egg shell residues.