Plasma assisted novel production process of glass-ceramic spheres in the quaternary system CaO–SiO2–Al2O3–MgO

In this work, a novel transformation process of industrial byproducts into spherical glass-ceramic materials in the quaternary system CaO–SiO2–Al2O3–MgO is presented. Byproducts used as precursor are blast furnace slags (BFS) generated by steelmaking industry located in northeastern Mexico. Several parameters for plasma projection process, such as Ar:He feeding flow and electric current were studied. Industrial Ar:He plasma projection equipment was used for vitrification and microstructural/morphological transformation of BFS. Precursor particles as well as produced glass-ceramic spheres were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XDS). In addition, density measurements from the generated powders were obtained using a Helium pycnometer.These new materials have a highly amorphous structure, and their final properties, such as porosity, density and size can be controlled by process parameters and therefore they could be modified to obtain special features for specific applications.