ABSTRACT
Vitrocrystalline foams from discarded glass bottles and rice husk (3 to 25 wt%) as pore forming agent were produced in this work. Different compositions were prepared in order to obtain materials with controlled porosity in applications where thermal insulation and non-flammability are major requirements. Well-homogenized powders of the formulated compositions were uniaxially pressed (20 MPa) and the obtained compacts fired at different temperatures (700 - 950°C) and holding times (30 - 120 min). Raw materials and the obtained vitrocrystalline foams were characterized according to their chemical, physical and structural properties. The results showed that it is possible to produce vitrocrystalline foams from optimized compositions containing 85% glass bottle and 15% rice husk, fired at 900°C for different holding times. These vitrocrystalline foams presented porosity varied from 80 to 84% while the thermal conductivity and compressive strength varied between 0.068 and 0.082 W/m.K and from 1.1 to 1.8 MPa, respectively.
Keywords:
Vitrocrystalline foams; Rice husk; Thermal insulators; Solid wastes
