#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences Siberian Branch’s Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center and the Siberian Federal University have developed high-strength concrete consisting of 90 percent waste from industrial and household glass.
The new material is cheaper and stronger than analogues. In addition, it will reduce the amount of glass waste that harms the environment. TASS reports this with reference to the official publication of the SB RAS’s – Science in Siberia.
“Using waste is two to three times cheaper than natural raw materials. The new composite opens up opportunities for creating stronger and more sustainable structures in the future”, the publication quotes the center’s research fellow Sergey Dobrosmyslov.
Krasnoyarsk researchers managed to avoid a decrease in the strength of the material due to the chemical interaction of glass and cement by crushing broken window glass to particles about 50–60 micrometers in size. Glass, crushed to one micrometer, was also used as a binding element. Experiments to optimize the production process have shown that increasing the concentration of finely ground glass and calcium oxide from 20 to 50 percent increases the glass concrete composition’s strength by 2.5 times.
“Glass contains silicon oxide, which reacts chemically with added calcium oxide to form calcium silicate. It acts as a connecting element in the glass concrete material. Calcium silicate as a binder eliminates cement from the composition, which significantly reduces energy costs and carbon emissions in the production of building products”, the study says.
Increasing the glass grinding fineness to one micrometer also allowed scientists to abandon autoclave hardening in the production of glass concrete, which significantly increases the cost and energy intensity of the process, and thus saves energy resources.
Previously, Siberian scientists created a new type of fuel from coal and pine cones, taught artificial intelligence to design objects in the Arctic, and created clothing to protect firefighters in the Arctic from frost and fire.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Elena Popova, Photo: Olga Polyanskaya
