Research On The Structure And Properties Control Of Glass Foam

Water eutrophication is one of global environmental problems at present,which has destroyed the balance of aquatic ecosystem and endangered human health seriously.In order to reduce pollution andpurify water bodies,artificial floating island,which is a bioremediation technology using hydrophytes,has gained more and more attention.Glass foam is cellular structured solid material,which has become the integrant material of artificial floating island carrier based on excellent characters,such as mechanical strength,chemical stability,pollution-free and so on.In this experiment,we adopt the method of powder technologyat low temperature to manufacture the material of glass foam,meanwhile we use waste glass as raw material and use the Li₂CO₃ as foaming agent.We explored the effects of many aspects on the microstructure and various physical properties of glass foam,such as the additive amount of Li₂CO₃,temperature system?foaming temperature and foaming time?,the additive amount of K₃PO₄,the additive amount of Ti O₂,the type and amount of colorants.We analyzed the chemical composition and thermal analysis of the raw materials by means of X-ray fluorescence analysis,the linear coefficient of thermal expansion analysis and TG-DSC.We characterized the phase structure,microscopic morphology and FTIR spectra of the sample by means of XRD,SEM,and FTIR.At the same time,we measured the bulk density,porosity,water absorption,compressive strength and chemical stability of the sample.The research results demonstratedthat the optimal glass foam with homogeneous porous structure,high porosity?86%?,low bulk density?0.34g/cm³?,high compressive strength values?2.82MPa?could be prepared under conditions of adding7wt%Li₂CO₃ and being sintered at 750°C for 40 min.Besides,the water and acid resistance tests for the obtained optimized samples also indicated that the final product possessed an excellent chemical stability.The glass foam with homogeneous porous structure,high porosity?more than86%?,low bulk density?0.350g/cm³?could be prepared under conditions of adding1.5wt%K₃PO₄ and being sintered at 725°C.The performance of the glass foam was close to the product with no added stabilizing foam agent that be sintered at 750°C.In this case,we could obtain high quality product under the lower sintering process,which could save the cost of production.The TiO₂ as a kind of reinforcing agent not only could promote the crystallization,but also could increase the surface tension of glass foam,improve the pore structure and improve the strength of the glass foam by reducing viscosity of molten glass phase.The optimum dosage of TiO₂ was 0.6wt%.Through adding different types and contents of ionic colorants including cobalt blue and CuO,we got blue and sky blue glass foam.We preliminarily explored the influence of ionic colorants on color and pore structure,and improved the practicability of glass foam.