Glass and Glass-Ceramics Produced from Fly Ash and Boron Waste

In the current study, the effect of boron waste addition on some properties of fly ash based glass and glass-ceramics were investigated. The powder compositions including 10, 30, and 50 wt% boron waste was prepared. All the investigated compositions were melted at 1500C by using electrical furnaces. Melting structures were cast into the graphite mold. Thus, fly ash-boron waste based glass materials were produced. To transform the glass-ceramic, crystallization process was performed. Crystallization and glass-transition temperatures were determined by differential thermal analysis. Highly dense and crystalline materials, predominantly composed of diopside and augite together with tincalconite and residual glassy phase, were detected by X-ray diffraction analysis after heat treatment at 800, 900, and 1000C for 1 h. For the glass and glass-ceramic samples, mechanical tests such as hardness and fracture toughness were realized. A boron waste addition has a positive effect on the hardness of the specimens unlike the fracture toughness results. Furthermore, produced glass-ceramic materials were characterized via scanning electron microscopy.