title: Waste glass from end-of-life fluorescent lamps as raw material in geopolymers.
abstract: Nowadays the stunning volume of generated wastes, the exhaustion of raw materials, and the disturbing greenhouse gases emission levels show that a paradigm shift is mandatory. In this context, the possibility of using wastes instead of virgin raw materials can mitigate the environmental problems related to wastes, while reducing the consumption of the Earth's natural resources. This innovative work reports the incorporation of unexplored waste glass coming from end-of-life fluorescent lamps into geopolymers. The influence of the waste glass incorporation level, NaOH molarity and curing conditions on the microstructure, physical and mechanical properties of the geopolymers was evaluated. Results demonstrate that curing conditions are the most influential factor on the geopolymer characteristics, while the NaOH molarity is less important. Geopolymers containing 37.5% (wt) waste glass were successfully produced, showing compressive strength of 14MPa (after 28days of curing), suggesting the possibility of their use in non-structural applications. Porous waste-based geopolymers for novel applications were also fabricated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering/CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: ruimnovais@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Rui M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Novais
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering/CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ascensão
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering/CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Seabra
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering/CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Labrincha
mesh_terms: D019245:Compressive Strength; D059029:Electronic Waste; D005898:Glass; D006794:Household Articles; D011108:Polymers; D016062:Porosity; D059027:Recycling / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers
keywords: Fluorescent lamp waste glass; Geopolymers; Mechanical properties; Porosity