Glass foams for environmental applications

Glass foams were produced using glass industrial waste and aluminium nitride as foaming agent. Steel-making dusts were also used to prepare these expanded materials. Time and temperature process parameters were tuned to adjust physico-chemical properties such as density and porosity. Structural characterisation by X-ray diffraction reveals the amorphous or crystalline nature depending on process parameters. Apparent density varies from 0.2 to 1.2 g cm− 3 and pycnometric density from 1 to 2.2 g cm− 3. The pore nature (close or open) is correlated to the preparation process and the initial batch composition. When doped or coated by titanium dioxide, expanded glasses present a photocatalytic activity in the UV region and were tested for toluene decomposition in gas phase. We have shown that TiO2-coated foam glasses are efficient, as a support for total toluene photodegradation, in comparison with cellulose/TiO2 based commercial support.