Opportunity
An innovative material developed to make the construction industry more sustainable for application to products and building components such as tiles.
Background
The construction industry is one of the most unsustainable industries in Australia and the world. Most products used are ceramic such as roof tiles, wall tiles, wash basins and bricks. They are made from earthenware clay and cement that cannot be easily recycled and have a high carbon footprint due to the amount of embodied energy they contain. There is therefore a need to develop novel and cost-effective solutions that help reduce the amount of waste produced and energy expended by building and construction industries.
Our Solution
Researchers at UTS have developed a novel ceramic material using glass fines as a replacement for products such as tiles that are traditionally made from materials from earthenware clay. Glass fines is a waste material left over from the glass recycling process that, due to its low value, mostly goes to landfill. The novel UTS material combines glass fines with a bio-based binder and water to make a material that can be formed into a product through extrusion or moulding.
Once dried, the product is fired to bind the glass particles together and form a solid object. During the firing process the bio-based binder burns off leaving behind a product that is 100% glass and is 100% recyclable. The material becomes waterproof at a firing temperature of 760˚C and does not need to be glazed and re-fired. Traditionally made kitchen and bathroom tiles are fired at temperatures around 1,100˚C so the UTS material represents a potentially significant saving in energy cost and consumption.
Potential Applications
- Kitchen tiles
- Bathroom tiles
IP Status
The invention is the subject of a Provisional Patent AU2023901202
Inventors
Dr Stefan Lie, Assoc Prof Tim Schorck, Ella Williams, Nahum McLean
Figure A: Wall tiles made from the UTS material
Contact us:
If you are interested in working with our researchers to develop any of our technologies, please contact the UTS Commercialisation Team at patents@uts.edu.au.