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Abstract: In building constructions, the tendency towards an ever-better material directs us to composite materials. In this work, we prepared an organic-organic and organic-inorganic composite material by incorporating fire retardants, ammonium polyphosphates, and 2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine, into a polyurethane network and an aluminosilicate network (ASN) of alkali-activated material. Polyurethane foams (PUR) are well-known materials that, due to their properties, such as low weight-to-strength ratio, low electrical and thermal conductivity, flexibility, and relatively simple preparation process, are used in various industries, also in the construction industry, e.g., for thermal insulation of windows and doors or fixing and sealing joinery. Opposite, the ASN of alkali-activated metakaolin, successfully paves the way for new applications, such as high-temperature protection. In this paper, these interactive properties of prepared composites are studied using thermal testing and mechanical analysis. It was found that inhibitors significantly increase the fire resistance of PUR systems while they slightly reduce the mechanical properties. Incorporating polymer flame retardant into ASN in building products, such as façade panels , can decrease the mechanical properties but can offer the non-flammable building envelope not get heated from burning surroundings, i.e., not becoming a convection heat source, but rather represent a fire-distinguisher for flammable materials.
Keywords: flame retardants, polyurethane, alkali activated material, metakaolin, microwave irradiation, mechanical strength
Published in DiRROS: 12.03.2024; Views: 199; Downloads: 289
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Abstract: Polyurethane foam (PUR) is a lightweight, thermally insulating, widely used, and highly flammable material that has after its use an adverse effect on the environment, i.e., PUR disposal is considered hazardous. Its flammability can be mitigated using various fire retardants, but they do not change the hazardous nature of waste PUR. Therefore, in the current study, waste PUR with and without flame retardants based on N and P was incorporated into a geopolymer, the alkali-activated material (AAM) based solely on metakaolin, to evaluate the potential recycling route of waste PUR while taking into account its flammability, so it can enter safely into the circular economy through the building industry. To enhance the mechanical properties of the composite, a fresh mixture was irradiated with microwaves. However, the irradiation of geopolymer containing PUR negatively influenced mechanical performance, which led to the evaluation of the behaviour of the complex dielectric constant of PUR and fire retardants. Materials and composites were evaluated regarding their chemistry, mineralogy, microstructure, and porosity to connect the structure with extrinsic properties like geometrical density, thermal conductivity, and fire properties. Nonetheless, positive influences of PUR being encapsulated in the geopolymer were lowered density (from 1.8 to 1.6 kg/l) and improved thermal insulation ability (from 940 to 860 mW/(m·K)) of the composites: with the inclusion of <5 % of PUR, thermal insulation improved by nearly 10 %. However, the contribution of PUR to the composite originated from its skeleton, which has more than 15 times bigger geometrical density (0.81 kg/l) compared to the density of the skeleton (0.047 kg/l). This offers an open field for further advancements of thermal properties, but would also lead to a decrease of the compressive strength, which was already lowered from 90 MPa for 30 % with <5 % of added grated PUR. Furthermore, the flammable nature of PUR and its other drawbacks can be controlled by permanent embedding in the noncombustible structure of geopolymer, making the envelope of sustainable buildings green and safer. Overall, including grated waste PUR in geopolymer represents a promising, easy, cost-effective recycling path with low energy consumption, where the composite cannot develop fire on a scale of pure PUR, even in the worst-case scenario, but only if the composite is designed in a way, that flammable materials cannot join flames during their combustion. This paper gives prospects to other flammable waste materials to be safely used in the circular economy, and to porous materials to shape properties of the composite by their intrinsic and/or extrinsic properties.
Keywords: waste polyurethane foam, polymeric flame retardants, alkali activated material, metakaolin, microwave irradiation, thermal-fire behaviour, mechanical strength
Published in DiRROS: 01.03.2024; Views: 384; Downloads: 533
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Abstract: Within previous investigation alkali activation of waste casting cores at room temperature did not give promising results, i.e. when the precursor was gently ground and sieved below 600 %m the alkali activated material fell apart at demolding, and when the precursor was ground below 90 %m, the alkali activated material did not solidify in more than 2 years. , Therefore different drying/curing methods were applied to enhance the reaction. Waste casting cores were prepared in two granulations (sieved below 600 %m and below 90 %m), activated with Na -water glass and 10 M NaOH, cured at different temperatures (70 °C and room temperature), and subsequently cured/dried at three different conditions: room temperature, 110 °C, and irradiated with microwaves. The highest compressive strength, 25 MPa, was gained with subsequent curing/drying at 110 °C. The lowest density, 0.5 kg/l, with compressive strength above 3 MPa, was achieved with subsequent curing/drying with microwaves .
Keywords: waste casting cores, alkali activation, curing, drying, microwaves, mechanical strength
Published in DiRROS: 22.01.2024; Views: 217; Downloads: 114
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Abstract: Alkali-activated materials are promising materials for the construction industry due to the accessibility of the precursors, which are mainly secondary industrial by-products, and their cost- effective and energy-efficient production. Although these materials are not new, some of the parameters in the technological process are not yet fully understood and tested. Therefore, in this paper in the means of mechanical strength, the preparation of alkali-activated pastes by using a three-roll mill homogenization method is discussed. The influence of homogenization of alkali- activated slurry has been evaluated on different waste materials (fly ash, fly ash with metakaolin, slag mixture (electric arc furnace slag and ladle slag), glass wool, waste green ceramics), which are treated with different alkali activators (NaOH, commercial sodium silicate solution, laboratory-produced alkali activators based on waste cathode- ray tube glass) with different curing regimes (60 °C and 70 °C) and different drying methods (drying at room temperature, drying at 105 °C). The viscosity of the slurry before homogenization was higher than after homogenization, the distribution of elements was more uniform and the compressive strength higher in all homogenized alkali activated materials, regardless of other parameters.
Keywords: secondary raw material, alkali activated material, foaming, homogenization, mechanical strength
Published in DiRROS: 21.12.2023; Views: 263; Downloads: 86
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Abstract: Mineral waste wool represents a significant part of construction and demolition waste (CDW) not yet being successfully re-utilized. In the present study, waste stone wool (SW) and glass wool (GW) in the form received, without removing the binder, were evaluated for their potential use in alkali activation technology. It was confirmed that both can be used in the preparation of alkali-activated materials (AAMs), whether cured at room temperature or at an elevated temperature in order to speed up the reaction. The results show that it is possible to obtain a compressive strength of over 50 MPa using SW or GW as a precursor. A strength of 53 MPa was obtained in AAM based on GW after curing for 3 days at 40 °C, while a similar compressive strength (58 MPa) was achieved after curing the GW mixture for 56 days at room temperature. In general, the mechanical properties of samples based on GW are better than those based on SW. The evolution of mechanical properties and recognition of influential parameters were determined by various microstructural analyses, including XRD, SEM, MIP, and FTIR. The type of activator (solely NaOH or a combination of NaOH and sodium silicate), and the SiO2/Na2O and liquid to solid (L/S) ratios were found to be the significant parameters. A lower SiO2/Na2O ratio and low L/S ratio significantly improve the mechanical strength of AAMs made from both types of mineral wool.
Keywords: alkali activation, waste mineral wool, mechanical strength
Published in DiRROS: 31.07.2023; Views: 263; Downloads: 248
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