Ceramics

The growing energy demand in the residential sector, driven by the extensive use of air conditioning systems, poses serious environmental and economic challenges. A sustainable alternative is the use of efficient insulating materials derived from waste resources. This study presents the synthesis of glass–ceramic foams produced from recycled glass (90 wt%), pumice (5 wt%), and limestone (5 wt%), sintered at 800 °C for 10 min. The resulting foams exhibited a low apparent density of 684 kg/${\mathrm{m}}^3$ and thermal conductivity of 0.09 W/m·K. These were incorporated into composite insulating panels composed of 70 wt% ceramic pellets and 30 wt% Portland cement, achieving a thermal conductivity of 0.18 W/m·K. The panels were evaluated in a 64.8 ${\mathrm{m}}^2$ social housing model located in Chihuahua, Mexico, using TRNSYS v.17 to simulate annual energy performance. Results showed that applying a 1.5-inch ceramic foam panel reduced the annual energy demand by 16.9% and the total energy cost by 14.7%, while increasing the panel thickness to 2 in improved savings to 18.4%. Compared with expanded polystyrene (EPS), which achieved 24.9% savings, the proposed ceramic panels offer advantages in fire resistance, durability, local availability, and environmental sustainability. This work demonstrates an effective, low-cost, and circular-economy-based solution for improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency in social housing.

The development of the ceramic industry requires the creation of new innovative products with improved properties. Given the growing demand for high-quality finishing materials and the limited availability of traditional raw materials, the search for more efficient technologies for porcelain stoneware production is a relevant challenge. The aim of this study was to develop porcelain stoneware with enhanced performance characteristics. The research presents the results of a study aimed at improving the production technology of porcelain stoneware in Kazakhstan using local raw materials and microsilica. The raw materials from the Turkestan region were examined for their suitability for porcelain stoneware production. The influence of technological parameters (firing temperature, particle size) on the properties of porcelain stoneware was studied. New ceramic compositions with various microsilica contents, a by-product of silicon production, were investigated. Different compositions with varying raw material mixtures and microsilica content were prepared and fired at temperatures of 1100, 1150, and 1200 °C. The optimization of process parameters for producing porcelain stoneware in different compositions showed the degree of yield dependence on firing temperature and time as well as the effect of microsilica content. The temperature, time, and visually determined parameters at which different yield values were achieved were highlighted in different colors. The results showed that changes in the mixture composition and sintering temperature affect the quality of ceramic tiles. The final experimental conclusions demonstrated that the production of ceramic tiles containing up to 3% microsilica at a firing temperature of 1200 °C. The addition of microsilica increases the flexural strength of porcelain stoneware to 41 MPa (exceeding the standard), reduces water absorption to 0.023%, increases frost resistance to 107 cycles, and also enhances shrinkage. These findings open new prospects for the development of the domestic ceramic industry, the expansion of the product range, and the resolution of environmental issues.

Environmentally friendly materials with superior structural, physical, optical, and shielding capabilities are of great technological importance and are continually being investigated. In this work, novel multicomponent borate glasses with the composition xTiO₂-10BaO-5Al₂O₃-5WO₃-20Bi₂O₃-(60-x) B₂O₃, where 0 ≤ x ≤ 15 mol%, were produced via the melt-quenching technique. The increase in TiO₂ content results in a decrease in molar volume and a corresponding increase in density, indicating the formation of a compact, rigid, and mechanically hard glass network. Elastic constant measurements further confirmed this behavior. FTIR analysis confirms the transformation of BO₃ to BO₄ units, signifying improved network polymerization and structural stability. The prepared glasses exhibit an optical absorption edge in the visible region, demonstrating their strong ultraviolet light blocking capability. Incorporation of TiO₂ leads to an increase in refractive index, optical basicity, and polarizability, and a decrease in the optical band gap and metallization number; all of these suggest enhanced electron density and polarizability of the glass matrix. Radiation shielding properties were evaluated using Phy-X/PSD software. The outcomes illustrate that the Mass Attenuation Coefficient (MAC), Effective Atomic Number (Z_eff), Linear Attenuation Coefficient (LAC) increase, while Mean Free Path (MFP) and Half Value Layer (HVL) decrease with increasing TiO₂ at the expense of B₂O₃, confirming superior gamma-ray attenuation capability. Additionally, both TiO₂-doped and undoped samples show higher fast neutron removal cross sections (FNRCS) compared to several commercial glasses and concrete materials. Overall, the incorporation of TiO₂ significantly enhances the optical performance and radiation-shielding efficiency of the environmentally friendly glass system, making these potential candidates for advanced photonic devices and radiation-shielding applications.