Research Projects

after in medical, chemical, and household applications. However, the growing demand for glass has contributed to environmental pollution, as landfills continue to accumulate glass waste without adequate management. While some efforts have been made to utilize waste glass in areas such as construction, water filtration, and porous ceramics, these applications still fall short compared to the vast amount of glass waste generated each year. To address this issue, it is crucial to develop new methods and techniques that can lessen the amount of waste glass ending up in landfills and mitigate its environmental impact. Waste glass (WG) has significant potential for a range of applications, including gas sensing and water filtration, where it can yield excellent results. Herein, we aim to synthesize foam glasses and their composites using two different synthesis techniques: conventional sintering and traditional melt-quenching. These techniques will involve varying concentrations of waste glass powder (WGP) and battery waste (BW). In the sintering method, foam glasses and composites will be synthesized with different concentrations of the prepared composite system [55%WGP-(45–x)%(selected oxide)–x%BW], where x = 0, 5, 10, 15 wt% (by weight). Similarly, for the melt-quenching method, the same foam glass/composite compositions will be synthesized and evaluated through various characterization techniques. The structural, morphological, porosity, and mechanical performance of the synthesized porous glasses and composites will be analysed using various characterization techniques, including FTIR, XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, SEM, TEM, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Additionally, the precise composition of the components will be determined through XRF analysis. For the preparation of water filters, composite systems of [55% WGP-45% (selected oxide)] with x = 0 (porous glass without battery waste) will be utilized. Since battery waste may contain harmful toxins that could contaminate the filtered water, only foams free from battery waste will be used in this process. These porous glasses (foams) will be pulverized into fine powder and mixed with clay and sand in varying proportions. The resulting filter mixture will be air-dried under ambient conditions, and different batches will be prepared by firing at temperatures ranging from 800°C to 1000°C. The efficiency of the synthesized filters will be assessed by testing both unfiltered and filtered water for parameters like porosity, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), pH level, turbidity, and electrical conductivity. A thorough assessment of the outcome before and after filtration will be conducted. It is expected that these foam glasses and composites will be low-cost, environmentally friendly, durable, highly porous, and thermally stable. Furthermore, these novel materials will exhibit excellent performance in gas sensing and water filtration applications.