Analysis of Mechanical Characteristics of Fly Ash Cenospheres Reinforced Epoxy Composites

Fly ash cenospheres（FACs） as a recycling material of industrial waste has become a competitor for other inorganic particle fillers. Epoxy resin（EP） composites reinforced with different content of FACs as well as different size grading ratio were prepared. The surface modification of FACs particles was conducted before incorporating into EP matrix. The impact and flexural strengths and the flexural modulus were investigated, and the fracture surfaces of the testing samples were analyzed using SEM. Results showed that FACs had an obvious effect on the mechanical characteristics of the FACs/EP composites. With increasing weight fraction of FACs, the impact and flexural strengths and the flexural modulus of EP composite samples increased, and reached the highest values when the weight fraction of FACs reached 15 wt%. The mechanical characteristics of the FACs/EP composites however deteriorated with further increasing of FACs content. For the EP composites reinforced with different size grading ratio of FACs, the larger proportion of small FACs particles, the better mechanical properties of the EP composites. The results were analyzed from the aspect of the plastic deformation, new surface formation and fracture absorption energy. The synergistic effect of the size grading ratio of FACs was not obvious, which would be further investigated.

Structure and Properties of BaFe_(12)O_(19) Coated Fly Ash Cenospheres by Sol-Gel Process

Thin films of barium hexaferrite were prepared on fly ash cenosphere particles by the sol-gel method using Fe（ NO3 ）3 ·9H2O, Ba（ NO3 ）2 and citric acid as raw materials. The prepared films were characterized by differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis （DTA-TG）, X-ray diffraction analysis （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDX）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, and vibrating sample magnetometry . The magnetic and structural properties of barium hexaferrite coated cenosphere particles were also studied. The experimental results show that even and continual barium hexaferrite coatings were prepared on fly ash cenospheres , and the magnetic conductivity was imparted to these non-conducting oxide ceramic particles. The low density barium hexaferrite coated cenosphere particles may be atilized for manufacturing microwave absorbing materials.

Synthesis of CeO_2/fly ash cenospheres composites as novel photocatalysts by modified pyrolysis process

A novel fly ash cenospheres（FACs）-supported CeO2 composite（CeO2/FACs） was successfully synthesized by the modified pyrolysis process.The prepared composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）, and diffuse reflection spectra（DRS） techniques.XRD results indicated that the CeO2 film coated on cenospheres was a face-centered cubic structure.SEM images confirmed that the CeO2 film was relatively compact.XPS results showed that Ce was present as both Ce4＋ and Ce3＋ oxidation states in CeO2 film coated on FACs substrate.The bandgap of the composite was narrower compared with the pure CeO2.The as-prepared material exhibited good photocatalytic activity for the decolorization of methylene blue（MB） under visible light irradiation, and the first-order reaction rate constant（k） of 0.0028 min–1 for CeO2/FACs composite was higher than 0.0015 min–1 of pure CeO2.The fact that they floated on water meant that CeO2/FACs composites were easily recovered from water by filtration after the reaction.The recycling test revealed that the composites were quite stable during the MB photocatalytic decolorization.The CeO2/ FACs catalyst was therefore promising for practical use in the degradation of pollutants or water cleanup.

Hollow Cancrinite Zeolite Spheres in situ Transformed from Fly Ash Cenosphere

A novel hollow microsphere structure with cancrinite zeolite grown from the shell of fly ash cenosphere has been successfully prepared through in situ transformation in vapor phase; the orientation and morphology of cancrinite can be greatly improved by adding tetrapropylammonium hydrate into the synthetic system.

A Review on Utilization of Light Weight Fly Ash Cenosphere as Filler in both Polymer and Alloy-Based Composites

Fly Ash Cenospheres(FACs)are obtained from the coal power plants in the form of hollow spherical particles by burning the coal.FAC was started to use in early 1980-1985 as lightweight filler material in producing composites of cementitious and at present many researchers are focusing on use of FAC as filler in polymer and metals.In this paper,the systematic review on research activities and application of FAC in manufacturing light weight products are done.The influence of FAC on the physical and mechanical properties of incorporated polymer and alloy-based composites were summarized.Prospects of future for its use were also suggested and summarized in this paper.

Effects of Semi-solid Isothermal Heat Treatment on Microstructures and Damping Capacities of Fly Ash Cenosphere/AZ91D Composites

The fly ash cenosphere/AZ91D composites were successfully prepared and isothermally heat-treated at different tem- peratures for different time. The effects of semi-solid isothermal heat treatment on the microstructures and damping capacities of fly ash cenosphere/AZ91D composites were investigated. With the increase in isothermal temperature or holding time, the small liquid droplets within grains increased in size but decreased in quantity. The average size and shape factor of Mg2Si particles increased with the rise of isothermal temperature. The damping capacities of the composites were improved by isothermal heat treatment. At room temperature, the composites after heat treatment at 520 and 550 ℃ had a higher damping capacity due to interface damping when the strain amplitude was lower than about 8.8 × 10^-5, and the composite after heat treatment at 580 ℃ had a better damping capacity because of the dislocation damping under the condition of high strain amplitude. The damping capacities of the composites increased with the rise of the test temper- ature, and the damping mechanisms varied depending on different test temperatures. The interface damping played an important role when the test temperature was below about 100 ℃, and the dislocation damping and grain boundary damping took effect with the rise of test temperature.

Synthesis of novel CeO_2–BiVO_4/FAC composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic properties

To utilize visible light more effectively in photocatalytic reactions, a fly ash cenosphere （FAC）-supported CeO2-BiV04 （CeO2-BiVO4/FAC） composite photocatalyst was prepared by modified metalorganic decomposition and impregnation methods. The physical and photophysical properties of the composite have been characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscope （SEM） and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy （EDX）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, and UV-Visible diffuse reflectance spectra. The XRD patterns exhibited characteristic diffraction peaks of both BiVO4 and Ce02 crystalline phases. The XPS results showed that Ce was present as both Ce4＋ and Ce3＋ oxidation states in Ce02 and dispersed on the surface of BiV04 to constitute a p-n heterojunction composite. The absorption threshold of the CeO2-BiVO4/FAC composite shifted to a longer wavelength in the UV-Vis absorption spectrum compared to the pure Ce02 and pure BiV04. The composites exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity for Methylene Blue （MB） degradation under visible light irradiation. It was found that the 7.5 wt.% CeO2-BiVO4/FAC composite showed the highest photocatalytic activity for MB dye wastewater treatment.