The mechanism of glass foaming with water glass

•Mixture of glass powder and water glass is atmosphere sensitive.•Reaction with CO2 results in the formation of carbonates.•Newly formed carbonates are the main source of expansion gas (CO2).•New mechanism of foaming with water glass proposed. Water glass is a common additive in the process of direct foaming of glass, however, the currently accepted foaming mechanism lacks experimental validation. A foaming mixture of waste cathode ray tube panel glass and water glass was investigated for its expansion and gas evolution behavior via hot stage microscopy and thermogravimetry coupled with mass spectroscopy, respectively. The evolution of a significant amount of CO2 during the heating of the foaming mixture was detected and an overwhelming presence of CO2 within the pores of the foamed glass was confirmed with gas chromatography. With this investigation, we reveal an underlying foaming mechanism, where a carbonate phase forms after mixing water glass with the glass powder and later acts as the foaming agent. The unveiled mechanism could help further research in the field of foamed glass, with the potential to produce more sustainable materials with better performance via less energy-demanding processes.