Synthesis and characterization of low-cost glass-ceramic foams for insulating applications using glass and pumice wastes

Abstract

At present, there is an increasing need to integrate ceramic materials with insulating properties for housing construction (for energy saving), mainly in areas where extreme temperature occurs. The objective of this work was to synthesize low-cost glass-ceramic foams, using recycled glass and waste materials near to Chihuahua city, Mexico, such as pumice and limestone mineral residues; the last one was used as a foaming material. The precursors were grounded, pressed forming pellets by cold pressing, and subsequently sintered using different conditions of temperature and time. The thermal conductivity, compressive strength, bulk density, actual density and percent expansion of prepared samples were evaluated and discussed in this work. Based on the experimentation, we found that optimum sintering time for this material is 20 minutes. Following this cheap and convenient procedure, a sample obtained at 800°C showed the best properties with a density of 0.44 g/cm3 and a thermal conductivity coefficient of 0.096 W/m K. These values indicated that is feasible to synthesize these foams construction industry applications working as appropriate thermal insulators.