Preparation and evaluation of gypsum plaster composited with copper smelter slag

Copper smelter slag is a by-product of copper production at smelters. In this paper, the slag was combined with gypsum, and the physical properties and functionalities of the resulting composites were evaluated to explore new uses for copper smelter slag. Hardened composite materials were successfully obtained from slurries consisting of calcined gypsum, copper slag and water, and these exhibited increased flexural strength and bulk density relative to pure hardened gypsum. These enhanced properties were found to become more evident with the addition of higher proportions of slag. The data suggest that such improvements were primarily due to the reduction of air voids caused by the addition of the copper slag. This composite material is likely to provide radiation shielding because of its high iron content, and attenuation simulations indicated the possibility of X-ray shielding. This material was also demonstrated to adsorb hydrogen sulfide but not necessarily other odoriferous gases.