Effects of soda lime glass waste on the physical, mechanical and aesthetics properties of sanitary-ware glazes

Recycling some waste industrial products in the traditional ceramics is a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach. This work focused on the incorporation of soda lime glass waste (SLGW) in the manufacturing of sanitary ware glazes. Eleven formulations were made under industrial conditions and compared to a reference industrial glaze. The findings revealed that the use of SLGW instead of dolomite (7 wt.%) leads to a significant improvement of the whiteness from 87.0 to 93.26 %. While the use of 20 wt. % SLGW instead of feldspar and 17 wt.% in place of the mixture (10 wt.% feldspar - 7 wt.% dolomite) results in an increased whiteness of 88.58 % and 89.42 %, respectively. The structural and morphological characterizations of the obtained glazes were identified by XRD, Raman spectroscopy and SEM analysis. However, the thermal analyses of the glazes were determined by DTA and TG techniques. Rheological behavior of the slip glazes; both physical and mechanical properties of the fired glazes have been also measured. This study revealed that soda lime glass wastes are good alternative materials, and the corresponding formulations were shown to be viable in the industry of the ceramic glazes. The most remarkable conclusion from this study was that the addition of SLGW improved the aesthetic aspect (whiteness and brightness) of sanitary ceramic glazes.