Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23

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Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jnoncrysol

Effect of SiC content on viscosity and thermal properties of foam ceramic T

prepared from molybdenum tailings
⁎
Zhiheng Tanga, Mingxing Zhangb, Xuefeng Zhanga,b, , Jianli Hea, Xiaolin Jiab, Leibo Dengb
a
School of Physics, Inner Mongolia University of Science & Technology, Baotou 014010, China
b
Key Laboratory of Integrated Exploitation of Bayan Obo Multi-Metal Resources, Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou 014010, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A foam ceramic was prepared using molybdenum tailings (97–99.5 wt%) as the raw material and SiC as the
Foam ceramic foaming agent. The results showed that with increasing SiC content, the liquid-phase viscosity decreased, which
Molybdenum tailing in turn enhanced the overall expansion of the system, leading to a decrease in the thermal conductivity. The
Liquid-phase viscosity effects of the SiC content on the bulk density, porosity, pore size, and thermal conductivity were investigated in
Thermal conductivity
detail. Moreover, the experimental results were compared with several analytical models, and we found that the
parallel model closely agreed with the predictions. The sample prepared via sintering at 1150 °C using 2.5 wt%
SiC and molybdenum tailings exhibited a low bulk density of 0.37 g/cm3, high porosity of 85.14%, and low
thermal conductivity of 0.22W/m·K. Thus, the application of molybdenum tailings in the production of foamed
materials is considered to have potential economic and environmental advantages.

1. Introduction
A worldwide focus on energy efficiency has placed heat-insulating
properties high on the agenda; however, the widely used organic
thermal insulation materials are flammable and highly hazardous, and
these materials cause side effects during application [1–5]. A foam
ceramic (FC) exhibits several advantages over conventional insulating
materials (e.g., polyethylene foams): freeze-thaw tolerance, superior
chemical and thermal stability, higher surface area and permeability,
superior mechanical properties, and a longer lifespan [6–8].
Several researchers have synthesized FCs from various industrial
wastes such as recycled glass [1–4,7–13], fly ash [14–16], and polishing
porcelain waste [17–19], via the formation of a glassy phase during
heating. However, FC fabrication from solid waste has some limitations:
(1) the amount of solid waste utilized is extremely low; (2) solid waste,
such as recycled glass, is mostly made up of components with different
colors; therefore, color sorting and impurity removal steps are required,
leading to higher costs; and (3) recycled glass may contain con-
taminants such as metallic or nonmetallic fragments [6,20]. Never-
theless, the main contents of molybdenum tailings (Mo-tailings) are
similar to the components of FC, and relatively, they have uniform
particle sizes and fixed compositions. These factors significantly reduce
the cost of FC production. Therefore, FCs prepared via recycling of Mo-
tailings is a promising alternative to organic thermal insulation
materials.
The control of liquid-phase viscosity (η) is considerably important in
the foaming process because it severely affects the thermal and me-
chanical properties, as well as the microstructure of the resulting
samples [21–26]. For instance, Fernandes et al. [21] have suggested
that the liquid-phase viscosity should be controlled in the range
107–108 Pa·s, which enables the foaming agent to release gas, leading to
homogeneous porosity. However, Mugoni [22] and Souza et al. [23]
have recommended that a low viscosity, in the range 103–107 Pa·s, is
sufficient to allow the expansion of the produced gas. Nevertheless,
some other researchers including Scarinci [24] have reported that the
viscosity should be in the range 103–105 Pa·s for optimal foaming
conditions. Most researchers have focused on the feasibility and me-
chanical properties [4–7,13–16,20–24] of raw materials [15,16], and
only some of them have systematically studied the thermal conductivity
[27–30] of FCs, which is considered a relatively important parameter
that determines the heat-insulating properties of the materials.
In this paper, we demonstrate the effect of the SiC content on the
liquid-phase viscosity and thermal conductivity of the fabricated FC.

⁎
Corresponding author at: School of Physics, Inner Mongolia University of Science & Technology, Baotou 014010, China.
E-mail address: wjbltc@163.com (X. Zhang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2019.02.024
Received 15 November 2018; Received in revised form 22 February 2019; Accepted 22 February 2019
Available online 15 March 2019
0022-3093/ © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Z. Tang, et al.
Table 1
The chemical composition of Mo-tailings.
Component SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 K2O Na2O CaO MgO
Mo-tailings 70.56 13.22 4.51 3.42 3.15 2.00 1.39
Est.Error 0.10 0.15 0.04 0.10 0.19 0.03 0.06
LOI (loss on ignition).
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Characterization of raw materials
The chemical composition of the Mo-tailings was analyzed by X-ray
fluorescence (XRF, Rigaku 6486-0024, Japan) and the results are shown
in Table 1. The presence of modifiers (Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, K2O, and
Na2O) in the samples ensured reduction in the liquid-phase viscosity at
high temperatures, which was propitious to the entrapment of gases.
From Table 1, MoO3 was not detected in Mo-tailings by XRF. However,
considering the potentially harmful effects of Mo on the environment,
human and ecosystem health, the content of Mo in the Mo-tailings was
further determined by atomic emission spectrometery (AES, iCAP6300,
Thermo, USA). The content of metal Mo was determined to be
0.17 ± 0.0126 mg/L. Because the content of Mo is extremely low, the
raw material is relatively safe for humans and environment.
The crystalline phases of the fired specimens were identified by X-
ray diffraction (XRD, Philips PW-1710, Netherlands) using the Cu Kα
radiation in the scanning range 10–80° at room temperature; the XRD
patterns of the Mo-tailings are shown in Fig. 1.
2.2. Preparation of FC
For the preparation of FC, Mo-tailings and SiC (0–3 wt%) were used
as the raw materials; the prepared samples were named as S0, S0.5, S1,
S1.5, S2, S2.5, and S3, depending on the SiC content.
FC samples were prepared by mixing the components in a planetary
mill (Tencan Powder, China) for 40 min. The particle sizes of the
powders determined by laser particle size analyzer (BT-9300S,
Dandong Bettersize Instruments Ltd., China) varied from 0.1 to 55 μm,
and the median diameter was 9.5 μm.
Cylindrical samples with diameter 55 mm and height 20 mm were
obtained by uniaxial pressing of the FC powders at 5 MPa.
Subsequently, the samples were dried at 110 °C for 12 h for the residual
water removal and then heated in an electric furnace at 1130–1160 °C
for 30 min at a heating rate of 5 °C/min.
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to confirm the
presence of metals in the samples and the different oxidation states of
the metals. The XPS profiles were recorded on a VG Escalab 200R
spectrophotometer equipped with a hemispherical electron analyzer
using monochromatic Mg Kα radiation as the X-ray source. Samples S1-
Fig. 1. The XRD result of Mo-tailings.
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23
S3 contained Fe2+ and Fe3+; this was confirmed from the presence of
the 2P3/2 photoelectron lines at ca. 711.1 eV (Fe3+) and 713.6 eV
TiO2 LOI (Fe2+) in the corresponding spectra. The collected XPS profiles were
analyzed using the CasaXPS software. All spectra were calibrated using
0.50 1.25 the adventitious C1s peak at 284.8 eV. Before analysis of the XPS
0.01
spectra, the background was subtracted using the multi-region Shirley
method.
2.3. Structure and performance characterization
The bulk density of the large FC samples was calculated from the
sample masses and volumes after cutting the samples to
10 × 10 × 10 mm parallelepipedic pieces. The powder density (ρpow)
was measured using a gas pycnometer (Micromeritics Accupyc 1330,
Norcross, GA, USA). The total porosity (φ) was obtained from the bulk
density and powder density using the following equation:
⎛ ρ ⎞
φ = ⎜1 − ∗ 100%
ρpow ⎟ (1)
⎝ ⎠
Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (Zeiss Sigma
500) were employed to observe the foam structures. The number of
pores were marked with twenty-times-magnified optical microscope
images and counted with the Nano software.
The SiC-related bloating effect was observed using a heating mi-
croscope (TOM-AC, Fraunhofer, Germany) during calcination.
Cylindrical samples with diameter 13 mm and height 5 mm were pre-
pared by uniaxial pressing at 5 MPa and subjected to a heat treatment
from 25 to 1500 °C at a heating rate of 10 °C/min. Changes in the shape
of the samples with increasing temperature were photographed at 1-
min intervals using the image analysis system of the instrument syn-
chronized with the programming schedule of the HSM.
The effective thermal conductivity (λeff) was measured via laser
flash analysis (LFA 447, Netzsch). Discs with thickness of 1 mm and
diameter of approximately 12.7 mm were prepared with the sintered
samples, and then they were coated with a thin graphite layer. After Xe
laser irradiation with a long pulse width of 450 μs, the increase in
temperature with time was recorded using an infrared detector. The
temperature-time curve was then fitted with a radiation numerical
model by including the pulse correction, from which the thermal dif-
fusivity (α) was calculated. Specific heat (Cp) was measured using the
temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC)
method (TA Q2000, USA). All measurements were carried out in air at
room temperature. Finally, with the values of α, the thermal con-
ductivity was calculated using Eq. (2).
λ eff = α∗ρ∗cP (2)
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Liquid-phase viscosity analysis of the mixture
A quantitative analysis of η of the samples during sintering is highly
important [21,26]. Parameter η, which is in direct correlation with the
selected foaming temperature, controls the maximum foam stability,
and in turn, the shape, size, and homogeneity of the pores. When the
foaming temperature is relatively high, η becomes extremely low
(i.e., < 103 Pa·s), which makes the maintenance of a stable foam
structure difficult, leading to the collapse of samples due to the coa-
lescence of pores and gravity effect [24]. On the contrary, a low tem-
perature corresponds to a high η, which makes it difficult to achieve
well-foaming samples that require adequate pressure within the bubble
to resist high surface tension of the silicate glass melt. Hence, during
expansion, the glass melt needs a suitable η, allowing the samples to
expand under the internal pressure caused by the release of the gas
generated during the oxidation-reduction reaction of the foaming
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Z. Tang, et al. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23

Table 2
HSM and η fixed point analysis of sample S2.5 (inset figure: characteristic stages at different temperatures).
Feature point Figure Temperature Log η Description
(°C) (pa·s)

TFrist Shrinkage(TF1) 1010 9.1 ± 0.1 The temperature at which the sample begins to shrink.

TMaximum Shrinkage(TM) 1108 7.8 ± 0.1 The temperature at which the sample shrinks to the minimum volume.

T Softening Point(TS1) 1163 6.3 ± 0.1 The temperature at which the sample corners start toround.

T Sphere Point(TS2) 1285 5.4 ± 0.1 The temperature at which the sample turns into spherical.

T Half Ball Point(TH) 1376 4.1 ± 0.1 The temperature at which the sample turns into hemispherical.

T Flow Point(TF2) 1468 3.4 ± 0.1 The temperature at which the sample turns into flow state.

agent. an increase in the SiC content from 0 to 3.0 wt%.

In this study, η was analyzed using an inverse proportionality em- Hence, the aforementioned results indicate that a higher SiC content
pirical relation, known as the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) equation is favorable for the reduction of the characteristic sintering temperature
[22,31–33]: and melt viscosity, which causes the foaming effect of the SiC particles.
There are two main mechanisms of the redox reaction of SiC. Firstly,
log η = A + B/(T − T0) (3) the SiO2 coating on the surface of SiC particles prevents SiC from
coming into contact with O2, therefore, only when O2/air passes
where A, B, and T0 are three empirical constants. They were calculated
through the SiO2 coating, the oxidation-reduction reaction between SiC
using the six characteristic viscosity points (Table 2 and Fig. 2).
and O2 occurs. This implies that the oxidation reaction rate of SiC
It is well known that the proper range of porosity is strongly in-
largely depends on the diffusion rate of oxygen. At lower sintering
fluenced by the composition of mixtures, which comprise various kinds
temperatures, the rate of oxygen diffusion through the SiO2 coating is
of primary raw materials and foaming agents. As mentioned above, the
only 10−14–10−15 cm2/s, which inhibits the oxidation reaction of SiC
suitable η range for the diverse-component samples varies between
particles. However, when the sintering temperature rises (above
103 Pa·s and 108 Pa·s [23–25]. Hence, these two values were taken as
1100 °C), the SiO2 coating is easily destroyed by the formation of the
the reference in this study. Fig. 2 shows the viscosity-temperature
liquid phase silicate, which causes an increase in the diffusion rate of
curves of the samples containing 0–3.0 wt% SiC (with an interval of
O2, thus promoting the reaction of SiC particles with oxygen and gen-
0.5 wt%). As observed, the two values simultaneously decrease with
erating a large amount of CO2 [17]. Because the embryo generates a
increasing SiC content. The decrease in the lower and upper limit
large amount of the liquid phase above 1100 °C, it is difficult for the gas
temperatures is about 97 °C and 110 °C, respectively, corresponding to

17
Z. Tang, et al.
Fig. 2. The viscosity-temperature curves of samples doped with different additional amounts of SiC (a) 0 wt% (b) 0.5 wt% (c) 1.0 wt% (d) 2.0 wt% (e) 2.5 wt% (f)
3.0 wt%.
to be discharged outward. Therefore, with increase in the amount of gas
remaining in the embryo, the sample expands [34–36].
The aforementioned phenomenon was confirmed by XRD analysis.
As shown in Fig. 3, all samples doped with different amounts of SiC and
sintered at 1150 °C for 30 min consist of the quartz, anorthite, and iron
oxide phases, in agreement with the XRD result of the Mo-tailings
(Fig. 1). The high content of SiO2 in the Mo-tailings is attributed to the
significant precipitation of quartz, while the weak iron oxide traces
(featuring only Fe3+, Fe2O3) are attributed to the Fe2O3 (about 4.51 wt
%) in the raw material (Table 1). These results reveal that high contents
of SiC do not cause any crystalline phase transformation of the main
raw material. However, the intensities of the different diffraction peaks
gradually decrease with increasing SiC content, implying that SiC im-
pedes crystallization, causing a decrease in η. On the other hand, as seen
in Fig. 3, the oxidation-reduction reaction between SiC and Fe2O3 in the
glass melt results in the transformation of Fe3+ to Fe2+, which causes a
decrease in the precipitation of iron oxide. The XPS results (Fig. 4 and
Table 3) agree with the XRD results. Notably, with an increase in the
Fig. 3. The XRD patterns of FC with variable SiC content at 1150 °C for 30 min.
18
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23
SiC content, the peak area and half-peak width of the Fe3+ peak in the
sample gradually decrease. However, the Fe2+ peak displays the op-
posite trend, indicating that the Fe3+ content in the sample decreases,
while the Fe2+ content increases. Because Fe2+ is a network-modifying
ion, it destroys the [SieO] net structure and causes a decrease in η
[33,37,38].
To further investigate the effect of SiC on η and shrinkage (also
called the densification process), we studied the swelling behavior of
samples with different SiC concentrations by high-temperature thermal
synthetic analysis with the HSM. As shown in Fig. 5, no obvious ex-
pansion or shrinkage is observed from room temperature to approxi-
mately 1020 °C. However, at temperatures higher than 1020 °C (up to
1130 °C), shrinkage occurs at a low rate (i.e., densification rate (in
terms of dimensional variation) tending to zero), after which, the ex-
pansion attributed to the release of the gas generated during the oxi-
dation-reduction of the foaming agent begins. Nonetheless, the densi-
fication rate gradually increases as the SiC content increases from 1.0 to
3.0 wt%, and the maximum shrinkage temperature decreases from
Z. Tang, et al. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23

Fig. 5. Shrinkage and swelling behavior of powder compacts with different SiC
contents; (A/A0 corresponds to the ratio of final area/initial area of the samples
powder compacts. The uncertainty associated with A/A0 is about 0.15%.)

the high η and low gas production, as aforementioned, lead to in-

Fig. 4. The XPS patterns of FC with variable SiC content at 1150 °C for 30 min.
(a) 1.0 wt% (b) 2.0 wt% (c) 3.0 wt%.
1130 °C to 1099 °C. The decrease in the maximum shrinkage tempera-
ture is attributed to the decrease in η with increasing SiC content.
3.2. Effect of bulk density on the thermal conductivity of FC
The thermal conductivity of FC depends on the solid conduction, gas
conduction, thermal radiation, and convection [1]. Fig. 6(a) shows the
evolution of the sample bulk density and thermal conductivity with
increment in the SiC content. In the sample sintered at 1130 °C, absence
of SiC, the gas production becomes limited, and consequently, the bulk
density becomes 2.42 g/cm3 [7,37], which is the general density of the
identified porcelain tile (not shown in the diagram). However, the bulk
density significantly decreases from 0.97 to 0.39 g/cm3 with increasing
SiC content (Fig. 6(a)). Therefore, in order to obtain an FC with low
bulk density, the addition of SiC is necessary [17]. At 0.5 wt% of SiC,
sufficient foaming, and eventually, a pore structure with thick cell walls
and inhomogeneous pores is formed. With increase in the SiC content, η
decreases; consequently, the atoms gain sufficient mobility to diffuse
towards any vacancy concentration gradient [20]. Subsequently, the
oxidation reaction of SiC particles intensifies, leading to enhanced CO2
gas generation and pore growth acceleration; thereby, the bulk density
drastically decreases. However, at SiC contents > 2.5 wt%, a higher
amount of gas is generated, increasing the gas pressure and commu-
nicating pore number; consequently, the foam collapses and columns
loosen. Therefore, the density of S3 did not significantly decrease.
On the other hand, S0.5 exhibits the maximum thermal conductivity
because of the relatively large bulk density (Fig. 6(a), which is attrib-
uted to a lower foaming capacity and more heat-transfer channels.
However, with increasing SiC component, the thermal conductivity
sharply decreases to about 0.22 W/m·K. Nevertheless, S3 exhibits a
higher thermal conductivity than S2.5. The reason is that although S3
has a lower bulk density, it possesses enhanced open porosity, which
has a negative effect on the heat insulation property. Therefore, the
final heat-insulating properties of the FC are determined by not only the
bulk density but also the porosity and pore size of the samples.
The samples prepared in this study at 1150 °C, S0.5-S3, were not
much superior to those prepared by other researchers with regard to
thermal conductivity and bulk density (Fig. 6(b)). However, the raw
materials we used were almost pure wastes and released no harmful
substances during the preparation, which was economical and en-
vironment-friendly. Note that the materials with thermal con-
ductivity < 0.25 W/m·K can be regarded as thermal insulators [39,40].
Therefore, the preparation of FCs with potential applications from Mo-
tailings as a raw material, solves the problem of massive accumulation
of Mo-tailings.

Table 3
Comparative data of Fe3+ and Fe2+ atomic ratio in foam ceramic used fitting methods.
Element S1 S2 S3

Fe3+ Fe2+ Fe3+ Fe2+ Fe3+ Fe2+

Spectral line 2P3/2 2P3/2 2P3/2 2P3/2 2P3/2 2P3/2

Binding energy (eV) 711.10 713.60 711.10 713.60 711.10 713.60
FWHM 4.37 ± 0.31 0.82 ± 0.09 3.97 ± 0.65 3.22 ± 0.40 2.47 ± 0.17 3.73 ± 0.33
(eV)
Fe2+/Fe3+ 0.04 ± 0.005 0.59 ± 0.16 1.24 ± 0.03
(%)

Fe2+/Fe3+ = (Fe2+(Area)/Fe3+(Area)).

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Z. Tang, et al. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23

Fig. 6. (a) Evolutions of bulk density and thermal conductivity with SiC contents. (Solid lines denote density, dashed lines denote thermal conductivity). (b) The
thermal conductivity variations of FC with bulk density from other reseaches.

Fig. 7. (a) The thermal conductivity variations of FC with porosity from other researches. (b) Evolution curves of thermal conductivity with different SiC contents. (c)
Evolution curves of porosity and thermal conductivity with different SiC contents. (d) Optical images of different SiC contents at 1150 °C.

3.3. Effect of porosity and pore size on the thermal conductivity of FC
As shown in Fig. 7(a), the relationship between porosity and
thermal conductivity is inversely proportional. Fig. 7(b) can be divided
into two parts: the low-temperature part (1130 °C) and high-tempera-
ture part (1150 °C to 1160 °C). In the low-temperature part, the porosity
increases with increasing SiC content because the addition of SiC con-
tributes to the gradual decrease in η and increase in the gas production,
which finally, cause an increase in the porosity, and in turn, a decrease
in the thermal conductivity. Nevertheless, for the samples sintered at
higher temperatures, with increasing SiC content, the gas production
increases and η decreases. In addition, at these temperatures, larger
pores form due to the multiple porosities. As the number of larger pores
increases, the pores rupture, and finally, the gas escapes. Therefore, the
porosity of S2.5 at 1160 °C is lower than that at 1150 °C, which is the
same as that of S3.
Although, the porosities of S3 and S2 are similar, the thermal con-
ductivity of S3 is lower than that of S2, which is attributed to the larger
pore size of S3, resulting from the higher gas production and lower η.
Therefore, the effect of pore size on the thermal conductivity must be
taken into consideration, as well.
As shown in Fig. 8, S0.5 exhibits a narrow pore size distribution, and
the sizes of about 90% of pores are in the range 0–0.5 mm. Notably,
with increase in the SiC content, the average pore size gradually in-
creases from 0.5 to 5.0 mm for S0.5-S3. In addition, with increase in the
SiC content, η decreases, which provides more active sites for nuclea-
tion, and the oxidation of SiC intensifies, leading to the generation of
more gas; consequently, pores easily connect together to form larger

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Z. Tang, et al. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23

Fig. 8. Pores size and distribution of samples with different SiC amounts and sintered at 1150 °C for 30 min. (a) 0.5 wt% (b) 1.0 wt% (c) 1.5 wt% (d) 2.0 wt% (e)
2.5 wt% (f) 3.0 wt%.

Fig. 9. SEM images of samples with different SiC amounts and sintered at 1150 °C for 30 min: (a) 0 wt% (b) 0.5 wt% (c) 1.0 wt% (d) 2.0 wt% (e) 2.5 wt% (f) 3.0 wt%.

pores. Moreover, the pore wall stretches when the gas pressure exceeds
the forces of surface tension and η, resulting in pore expansion. The gas
pressure in large pores is lower than that in small ones because the
pressure in a spherical pore is inversely proportional to the pore radius.
Consequently, larger pores grow faster than the smaller ones. However,
a large pore size causes an uneven distribution of pores and high open
porosity in the samples, as shown in Fig. 9(d)–(f); this is the reason for
the high thermal conductivity of S3.
3.4. Comparison between predicted and experimental values of thermal
conductivity
The effective thermal conductivity of an FC can be predicted using
an analytical model, in which the value is assimilated to a two-phase
system constituted by a dense solid skeleton and gas [27]. The pores are
usually filled with CO2 and air. Notably, in the prepared FC samples,
CO2 is the main entrapped gas. Therefore, in this study, we have con-
sidered the thermal conductivity of CO2 as a major parameter.
We tried to fit the experimental data to the existing models, namely,

21
Z. Tang, et al.
Fig. 10. Effective thermal conductivity as a function of porosity for analytical
predictions and experimental measurements. Calculation Parameters:
λs = 1.62 W/m K and λp = 0.025 W/m K.
the parallel model [28], Hashin-Shtrikman model [28], Russel model
[27,41], and Landauer model [27,41], as shown in Eqs. (4)-(7). These
models can be divided into two groups according to the assumptions
proposed to describe the properties of the microstructure. The first
group is constituted by the asymmetrical models: the parallel model,
Hashin-Shtrikman model, and Russel model, which consider the iso-
lated, cylindrical, and cubic inclusions dispersed in the matrix, re-
spectively.
The parallel model:
λ eff = (1 − φp ) ∗ λs + φp∗λp
The Hashin-Shtrikman model:
∗ turn enhanced the overall expansion of the system. The influence of SiC
⎡ λp + 2λs + 2φp (λp − λs ) ⎤
λ eff = λs∗ ⎢
λ + 2λs − φp (λp − λs ) ⎥
∗
⎣ p ⎦ by 4 theoretical models and the actual measurement method.
The Russel model:
2 ∗
λs∗ ⎡λs + φ 3 (λ
p − λs ) ⎤
λ eff = ⎣ ⎦
(
λs + (λp − λs ) ∗ φ
2
3 −φ ) (6)
On the other hand, the second group comprises the symmetrical
models, such as the Landauer model, which consider a more continuous
property of the second phase. Each phase exhibits a more or less con-
tinuous character depending on its volume fraction.
The Landauer model:
1∗
λ eff = ⎡ (λp∗ (3φ − 1)) + λs∗ (3φs − 1)
4 ⎣
1
+ ([λp∗ (3φ − 1) + λs∗ (3φs − 1)]2 + 8λs∗λp ) 2⎤
⎦ (7)
where λs and λp are the thermal conductivities of the solid matrix and
pores, respectively, and φs and φp are the corresponding volume frac-
tions of these phases.
It can be seen from Fig. 10 that several theoretical calculations and
actual measurements show the same trend: the thermal conductivity
decreases with increasing porosity. Interestingly, most models seem to
underestimate the actual thermal conductivity of the samples, com-
pared with the experimental data. The analytical-theory model based
on isolated inclusions, such as the Hashin-Shtrikman model, does not
yield a good prediction for the effective thermal conductivity of the FC
prepared in this study. Moreover, the Landauer model, which considers
the uneven distribution of the gas phase in the solid phase at a rela-
tively lower porosity, fails to predict the thermal conductivity of the
solid phase as well as the gas phase [28]. Hence, most models sum-
marized above cannot be effectively applied to the FC, except the
parallel model. As depicted in Fig. 9, the experimental results of this
study closely agree with the predictions proposed by the parallel model.
Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids 513 (2019) 15–23
However, at porosities higher than 85%, the prediction starts to fail as
the porosity increases, possibly because the open porosity of the sample
gradually increases, resulting in an increase in the air content of the
sample.
4. Conclusions
In summary, the variation in η of the sintered samples with in-
creasing SiC content was studied using an HSM. The following con-
clusions were drawn according to the results presented and discussed in
this paper: with decreasing η, both the porosity and pore size increased,
and the thermal conductivity first decreased and then increased.
Experimental results agreed with the parallel-model-based predictions.
Thus, the preparation of FCs with a large amount of Mo-tailings could
facilitates potential advantages from both the economic and ecological
aspects.
Acknowledgments
This research was financially supported by the Inner Mongolia
University of Science and Technology Innovation Fund (No. 2016QDL-
13).
Ethical statement
The foam ceramics prepared from a large amount of molybdenum
tailings (97–99.5 wt%) is successfully synthesized. The innovation of
the article is to characterize the change of viscosity in the process of
(4) tailings sintering and the effect of SiC on the thermal properties of
molybdenum tailings foam ceramics. The results showed that with in-
creasing SiC content, the liquid-phase viscosity decreased, which in
(5)
content on the thermal conductivity of foamed ceramic was measured
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