Sintered glass-ceramics from end of life cathode ray tubes glass

The recycling of end of life cathode Ray Tubes from TV sets and PC monitors is still an unsolved problem. This study presents the feasibility results of the panel glass recycling glass from end of life TV sets as secondary raw material in glass-ceramic productions. The sintering and crystallization processes of the glass-ceramics resulting from the mixing of 50wt% glass with different percentages of dolomite and alumina was studied. The crystallization and densification processes were examined by DTA, XRD and SEM techniques and by linear shrinkage, density and water-absorption studies. The influences of heat treatment temperature was analysed. The best glass-ceramics consolidation and densification was obtained at 900°C for the lower rate alumina composition. The crystallisation begins near 900°C in grain surfaces and expands in the bulk with increasing temperature (1000°C). These glass-ceramics are composed of nepheline, akermanite and celsian, crystalline phases present also in commercial glass-ceramics such as Pyroceram and responsible of high mechanical strength