Upcycling of Pharmaceutical Glass into Highly Porous Ceramics: From Foams to Membranes

The present COVID-19 emergency has dramatically increased the demand for pharmaceutical containers, especially vials. End-of-life containers, however, cannot be easily recycled in the manufacturing of new articles. This paper presents some strategies for upcycling of pharmaceutical glass into various porous ceramics. Suspensions of a fine glass powder (70 vol%) are used as a starting material. Highly uniform cellular structures may be easily prepared by vigorous mechanical stirring of partially gelified suspensions with added surfactant, followed by drying and firing at 550-650 degrees C. Stabilization of the cellular structures at temperatures as low as the glass transition temperature (T-g) of the used glass is facilitated by thermal decomposition of the gel phase, instead of viscous flow sintering of glass. This finding enabled the preparation of glass membranes (similar to 78 vol% open porosity), by direct firing of hardened suspensions, avoiding any surfactant addition and mechanical stirring. The powders obtained by crushing of hardened suspensions, even in unfired state, may be used as a low-cost sorbent for dye removal.