Porous Glass Microspheres from Alkali-Activated Fiber Glass Waste

Advancements in Solid-State Hydrogen Storage: A Review on the Glass Microspheres

Glass microspheres, with their unique internal structure and chemical stability, offer a promising solution for the challenges of hydrogen storage and transmission, potentially advancing the utility of hydrogen as a safe and efficient energy source. In this review, we systematically evaluate various treatment and modification strategies, including fusion, sol-gel, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and compare the performance of different types of glass microspheres. Our synthesis of current research findings reveals that specific low-cost and environmentally friendly modification techniques can significantly enhance the hydrogen storage efficiency of glass microspheres, with some methods increasing storage capacity by up to 32% under certain conditions. Through a detailed life-cycle and cost-benefit assessment, our study highlights the economic and sustainability advantages of using modified glass microspheres. For example, selected alternative materials used in lightweight vehicles have been shown to reduce density by approximately 10% while reducing costs. This review not only underscores the contributions of modified glass microspheres to overcoming the limitations of current hydrogen storage technologies but also provides a systematic framework for improving their performance in hydrogen storage applications. Our research suggests that modified glass microspheres could help to make hydrogen energy more commercially viable and environmentally friendly.

Waste Glass Upcycling Supported by Alkali Activation: An Overview

Alkali-activated materials are gaining much interest due to their outstanding performance, including their great resistance to chemical corrosion, good thermal characteristics, and ability to valorise industrial waste materials. Reusing waste glasses in creating alkali-activated materials appears to be a viable option for more effective solid waste utilisation and lower-cost products. However, very little research has been conducted on the suitability of waste glass as a prime precursor for alkali activation. This study examines the reuse of seven different types of waste glasses in the creation of geopolymeric and cementitious concretes as sustainable building materials, focusing in particular on how using waste glasses as the raw material in alkali-activated materials affects the durability, microstructures, hydration products, and fresh and hardened properties in comparison with using traditional raw materials. The impacts of several vital parameters, including the employment of a chemical activator, gel formation, post-fabrication curing procedures, and the distribution of source materials, are carefully considered. This review will offer insight into an in-depth understanding of the manufacturing and performance in promising applications of alkali-activated waste glass in light of future uses. The current study aims to provide a contemporary review of the chemical and structural properties of glasses and the state of research on the utilisation of waste glasses in the creation of alkali-activated materials.

Upcycling waste derived glass into high-performance photocatalytic scaffolds by alkali activation and direct ink writing

Novel and eco-friendly solutions are extensively needed for wastewater treatment. This work capitalizes on the combination of waste vitrification and additive manufacturing to produce an efficient photocatalyst for the specific purpose. Fine powders of waste-derived glass, containing Fe3O4 inclusions, by simple suspension (for a solid loading of 65 wt %) in alkaline solution (5 M NaOH), were transformed into pastes for direct ink writing. 3D-printed reticulated scaffolds were stabilized by the progressive hardening of a zeolite-like gel, formed by glass/solution interaction, at nearly room temperature. The printed scaffolds were successfully tested for the removal of methylene blue, realized by combining the high sorption capacity of the gel with the catalytic activity of magnetite inclusions, under UV light. A complete degradation of methylene blue is achieved by 90 min exposure, comparing favorably with other reported photocatalytic materials, requiring from 60 to 360 min. The photocatalytic activity was tested for several cycles, with no significant degradation. In other words, a waste-derived material can be reused for multiple times, to remediate wastewaters, with evident benefits on waste minimization.

Constructing a highly tough, durable, and renewable flexible filter by epitaxial growth of a glass fiber fabric for high flux and superefficient oil-water separation

The separation and purification of complex and stable stubborn oily sewage is extremely challenging. To respond to this challenge, we developed a powerful flexible filter with ultrahigh strength, durability, flux, separation efficiency, and a multiobjective separation function based on a universal epitaxial growth process of glass fiber fabric (Gf). The underwater oil contact angle (UOCA) of the silicate@Gf (MgSi@Gf) filter is 156.3°, so it can achieve both an ultrahigh permeation flux (5632.7 L·m^-2·h^-1) and oil-water separation efficiency (99.5%) under gravity (≈ 1 kPa) in purifying surfactant-stabilized emulsions, actual industrial oily sewage and mechanical cold rolling emulsions. The filter with a high tensile strength (66.5 MPa) and oil invasion pressure (4626 Pa) can withstand the impact of much sewage or intense water flow. The filter can tolerate extreme conditions and can maintain high separation performance in acid or alkaline (pH 1-13), high or low temperature (100 °C, 200 °C, -18 °C) conditions or natural salty waters such as seawater. The filter can remove methylene blue (MB) dye (99.8%) by filtration, and can be repeatedly and easily reconstructed (renewable advantage). The filter shows great potential for efficiently eliminating the hazards of contaminants in actual oily sewage and thus protect human health.

Recent Progress in Modifications, Properties, and Practical Applications of Glass Fiber

As a new member of the silica-derivative family, modified glass fiber (MGF) has attracted extensive attention because of its excellent properties and potential applications. Surface modification of glass fiber (GF) greatly changes its performance, resulting in a series of changes to its surface structure, wettability, electrical properties, mechanical properties, and stability. This article summarizes the latest research progress in MGF, including the different modification methods, the various properties, and their advanced applications in different fields. Finally, the challenges and possible solutions were provided for future investigations of MGF.

Advanced Dye Sorbents from Combined Stereolithography 3D Printing and Alkali Activation of Pharmaceutical Glass Waste

Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies enable the fabrication of objects with complex geometries in much simpler ways than conventional shaping methods. With the fabrication of recyclable filters for contaminated waters, the present work aims at exploiting such features as an opportunity to reuse glass from discarded pharmaceutical containers. Masked stereolithography-printed scaffolds were first heat-treated at relatively low temperatures (680 and 730 °C for 1 h) and then functionalized by alkali activation, with the formation of zeolite and sodium carbonate phases, which worked as additional adsorbing centers. As-sintered and activated scaffolds were characterized in terms of the efficiency of filtration and removal of methylene blue, used as a reference dye. The adsorption efficiency of activated printed glass was 81%. The 3D-printed adsorbent can be easily separated from the solution for reuse.