Overall utilization of vanadium–titanium magnetite tailings to prepare lightweight foam ceramics

Abstract Vanadium–titanium magnetite tailings (VTMT) are a common industrial waste in China, which are harmful to the environment and economic development. The efficient utilization of this industrial waste is urgently needed. Herein, foam ceramics were successfully prepared as partition materials using VTMT as the main raw material. In this work, the effects of VTMT and SiC content on the properties and microstructure of foam ceramics were investigated. Properties like rate of linear expansion, bulk density, water absorption and average pore size were analyzed. Furthermore, the foaming mechanism was further explained. Results showed that the rate of linear expansion of the samples first increased from 35.0% to 53.3% and then decreased with increasing VTMT content. Bulk density decreased, and the average pore size gradually increased from approximately 0.86 mm to 2.56 mm with increasing SiC content. Finally, the optimum foam ceramics were formed with 55 wt.% VTMT and 0.10 wt.% SiC sintered at 1130 °C. Such samples had a bulk density of 0.78 g/cm3, a water absorption of 14.3%, and a uniform pore size distribution. More importantly, this potential recycling process shows benefits to the environmental management and sustainable development of enterprises.