Synthesis of impermeable cellular glass foam from soda lime glass waste using SiC foaming agent

Abstract

This research presents the possibility of producing durable foam glasses from soda-lime glass waste using SiC foaming agent via viscous flow sintering at 900 ℃. The use of SiC instead of the nitride foaming agent applied in a previous work results in a more homogeneous microstructure and thus the emergence of foamed glass with better mechanical properties. The fabricated foam had a crack-free, 3-D cellular structure with closed pores of various geometries. It also had a lightweight ( ~ 0.233 g/cm3), high cold crushing strength (CCS) (3.37 MPa), low thermal conductivity (0.105 W/m-K), and contained more than ~ 92.7 vol.% gas bubbles enclosed between 7.3 vol.% impervious glass walls. The properties accomplished by the glass foam prepared in this work conform with the requirements of the international standard for commercial glass foams, demonstrating its strong capability to be utilized in potential applications in sustainable buildings and energy efficiency in the industry.