Mehta Akansha, Karbouche Khaoula, Kraxner Jozef, Elsayed Hamada, Galusek Dušan, Bernardo Enrico
FunGlass-Centre for Functional and Surface Functionalized Glass, Alexander Dubček University of Trenčín, 91150 Trenčín, Slovakia.
Department of Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Materials (Basel). 2022 May 25;15(11):3784. doi: 10.3390/ma15113784.
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 °C. Stabilization of the cellular structures at temperatures as low as the glass transition temperature (T) 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 (∼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.
当前的新冠疫情极大地增加了对药用容器，尤其是小瓶的需求。然而，废弃的容器很难在制造新物品时被回收利用。本文介绍了一些将药用玻璃升级改造为各种多孔陶瓷的策略。使用细玻璃粉（70体积%）的悬浮液作为起始材料。通过向部分凝胶化的悬浮液中加入表面活性剂并进行剧烈机械搅拌，随后在550 - 650°C下干燥和烧制，可以轻松制备出高度均匀的多孔结构。与玻璃的粘性流动烧结不同，凝胶相的热分解有助于在低至所用玻璃的玻璃化转变温度（T）的温度下稳定多孔结构。这一发现使得通过直接烧制硬化的悬浮液来制备玻璃膜（开孔率约为78体积%）成为可能，无需添加任何表面活性剂和进行机械搅拌。通过粉碎硬化的悬浮液获得的粉末，即使处于未烧制状态，也可用作低成本的染料去除吸附剂。
