About this Research Topic
Metallurgical slags are the main by-products in the production of metals. Over the past few years, the annual production of metallurgical slags has been over one billion tons worldwide. However, dumping in specific landfill sites is still the main way to dispose of these solid wastes for most ferrous and nonferrous smelters, causing social, environmental and economic problems. It has also become a major problem affecting the sustainable development of both ferrous and nonferrous industries. Therefore, the recycling of metallurgical slags as useful products (e.g. valuable metals and various materials) is gaining increasing interest over the last two decades. The development of efficient, green, and cost-effective technologies is the key to the recycling of these wastes.
Recently, using metallurgical slags as the raw materials for the production of inorganic structural materials (such as dense or lightweight ceramics, tiles, glass-ceramics, and refractories) has attracted extensive interests because both of them are multicomponent oxide systems, such as SiO2-Al2O3-CaO, SiO2-Al2O3-K2O, SiO2-Al2O3-MgO, SiO2-CaO-MgO, etc. Nevertheless, developing and improving the recycling technology of metallurgical slags is still a continuous effort and far from maturity today. Cost, quality, and durability problems are the main challenges in their applications. The main objective of this Research Topic is to collect the latest achievements in the exploration of novel value-added and high-quality materials derived from metallurgical slags, including the recent advances in the structure and performance improvement, the quality standard establishment, the development of new preparation methods and engineering processes for the waste-derived materials, etc.
This Research Topic invites authors to contribute their papers which deal with fundamental scientific and technological knowledge that is relevant to the preparation, performance, and application of industrial waste-derived materials. Both Original Research papers and Review articles are welcome. Papers are invited on all relevant topics, including, but not limited to:
• Design and preparation of ceramics, glass-ceramics, tiles, bricks, and refractories from metallurgical slags, such as blast furnace slag, steelmaking slag, red mud, copper slag, Lead slag, etc.;
• Sintering, crystallization, and microstructure of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• Green and facile preparation technology of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• Short and long-term performance and hazardous elements immobilization mechanism of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• The role of additives in the sintering, structure, and mechanical properties of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• Investigations based on laboratory-scale and/or industrial-scale experiments;
• New materials derived from other typical industrial solid wastes.
Recently, using metallurgical slags as the raw materials for the production of inorganic structural materials (such as dense or lightweight ceramics, tiles, glass-ceramics, and refractories) has attracted extensive interests because both of them are multicomponent oxide systems, such as SiO2-Al2O3-CaO, SiO2-Al2O3-K2O, SiO2-Al2O3-MgO, SiO2-CaO-MgO, etc. Nevertheless, developing and improving the recycling technology of metallurgical slags is still a continuous effort and far from maturity today. Cost, quality, and durability problems are the main challenges in their applications. The main objective of this Research Topic is to collect the latest achievements in the exploration of novel value-added and high-quality materials derived from metallurgical slags, including the recent advances in the structure and performance improvement, the quality standard establishment, the development of new preparation methods and engineering processes for the waste-derived materials, etc.
This Research Topic invites authors to contribute their papers which deal with fundamental scientific and technological knowledge that is relevant to the preparation, performance, and application of industrial waste-derived materials. Both Original Research papers and Review articles are welcome. Papers are invited on all relevant topics, including, but not limited to:
• Design and preparation of ceramics, glass-ceramics, tiles, bricks, and refractories from metallurgical slags, such as blast furnace slag, steelmaking slag, red mud, copper slag, Lead slag, etc.;
• Sintering, crystallization, and microstructure of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• Green and facile preparation technology of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• Short and long-term performance and hazardous elements immobilization mechanism of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• The role of additives in the sintering, structure, and mechanical properties of the metallurgical slag-derived materials;
• Investigations based on laboratory-scale and/or industrial-scale experiments;
• New materials derived from other typical industrial solid wastes.
Keywords: Metallurgical slag, Recycled material, Preparation, Characterization, Performance, Environmental impact
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
