Effective utilization of waste cathode ray tube glass-Crystalline silicotitanate synthesis

A novel process for crystalline silicotitanate (CST) synthesis was developed using waste cathode ray tube (CRT) panel glass as silicon source. The key trait of the process was to extract most of the silicon out of the glass for CST preparation, but leave Ba and Sr in the residue which had the potential to be employed as raw material for metallic Ba and Sr metallurgy. In the synthesis process, waste CRT panel glass was firstly treated by supercritical water (SCW)-NaOH solution for Si extraction, then sol-gel and hydrothermal treatments were used for CST preparation. 80% of Si in the glass could be extracted into the solution, while Sr and Ba were enriched in the residue in the form of Sr2SiO4 and Ba2Si3O8, respectively. Sr and Ba contents in the residue were 2-3 times higher than those in the raw glass. SEM, XRD and TEM results indicated that CST was successfully synthesized. Ion exchanging experiments showed that the batch distribution coefficient of the synthesized CST to Cs+ was up to 1.2 × 104 mL/g at pH 0.26.