Synthesis of WEEE-based geopolymers and their cytotoxicity

Alkali activated metakaolin-based geopolymer materials were used to blend in fine powder glasses from waste electric and electronic equipment. In particular, glasses from funnel and panel parts of cathode ray tubes were recovered and re-utilized, thus obtaining GPVFNL and GPVBa enriched geopolymers. The materials were characterized by means of Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy (FT-IR), and in order to avoid health risk for humans, cytotoxicity was preliminarily assessed by means of MTT test towards NIH-3T3 murine fibroblast cell line. The synthetized geopolymers showed an important anti-bacterial activity vs. Escherichia coli. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Alkali activated metakaolin-based geopolymer materials were blended with fine powder glasses from waste electronic equipment to obtain geopolymers enriched with glass components. These materials showed significant antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, with no health risks identified during cytotoxicity testing.