materials-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Geopolymers in Construction Industry

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2023) | Viewed by 4230

Special Issue Editors

School of Civil Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, China
Interests: geopolymers; alkali-activated materials; building materials
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Interests: solid-waste recycling; alkali-activated materials; life-cycle assessment; reinforcing and repairing materials
School of Civil Engineering, Changsha University of Science & Technology, Changsha 410114, China
Interests: geopolymers; alkali-activated materials; waste treatment
Research Group LIWET, Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Campus Kortrijk, Sint-Martens-Latemlaan 2B, B-8500 Kortrijk, Belgium
Interests: mineral materials; waste management; clay science

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Geopolymers (or alkali-activated materials) have received increased interest as an alternative material to Portland cement in recent decades due to their low-carbon-emission and excellent mechanical properties.

However, several challenging problems continue to exist, which hinder the engineering applications of geopolymers in the construction industry, including their workability differing from cement slurry, potential degradation of mechanical properties or protection of steel bars following carbonation, relatively high cost related to the use of alkali silicate or hydroxide, inherent brittleness, and high shrinkage properties. It is extremely important to obtain solutions to these problems so that geopolymers can be better used in practice.

Therefore, the purpose of this Special Issue is to collate and present innovative solutions for solving these problems, and to present high-quality scientific papers to an audience that shares an interest in the engineering application of geopolymers in the construction industry. The specific areas of interest of the current Special Issue include (but are not limited to) workability adjustment during the processing phase, carbonation behavior and control within in-service environments, shrinkage mechanism and compensation, toughness improvement, acid and salt resistance, durability assessment of reinforced geopolymer concrete, as well as the scientific gains of waste-derived alkaline-activator substitution for alkali silicate and hydroxide. Additionally, contributions concerning various modeling approaches and experimental techniques are also invited.

Prof. Dr. Hui Peng
Prof. Dr. Xiaolu Guo
Dr. Xiang Tian
Guest Editors

Dr. Xuetong Yang
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • geopolymers
  • solid-waste recycling
  • workability
  • carbonization
  • shrinkage
  • toughness
  • acid and salt resistance
  • durability assessment
  • waste-derived alkaline activator

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

21 pages, 14487 KiB  
Article
Eco-Friendly Coal Gangue and/or Metakaolin-Based Lightweight Geopolymer with the Addition of Waste Glass
by Celina Ziejewska, Agnieszka Bąk, Krzysztof Hodor and Marek Hebda
Materials 2023, 16(17), 6054; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16176054 - 03 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1045
Abstract
Massive amounts of deposited coal gangue derived from the mining industry constitute a crucial problem that must be solved. On the other hand, common knowledge about the recycling of glass products and the reuse of waste glass is still insufficient, which in turn [...] Read more.
Massive amounts of deposited coal gangue derived from the mining industry constitute a crucial problem that must be solved. On the other hand, common knowledge about the recycling of glass products and the reuse of waste glass is still insufficient, which in turn causes economic and environmental problems. Therefore, this work investigated lightweight geopolymer foams manufactured based on coal gangue, metakaolin, and a mix of them to evaluate the influence of such waste on the geopolymer matrix. In addition, the effect of 20% (wt.) of waste glass on the foams was determined. Mineralogical and chemical composition, thermal behaviour, thermal conductivity, compressive strength, morphology, and density of foams were investigated. Furthermore, the structure of the geopolymers was examined in detail, including pore and structure thickness, homogeneity, degree of anisotropy, porosity with division for closed and open pores, as well as distribution of additives and pores using micro-computed tomography (microCT). The results show that the incorporation of waste glass increased compressive strength by approximately 54% and 9% in the case of coal-gangue-based and metakaolin-based samples, respectively. The porosity of samples ranged from 67.3% to 58.7%, in which closed pores constituted 0.3–1.8%. Samples had homogeneous distributions of pores and additions. Furthermore, the thermal conductivity ranged from 0.080 W/(m·K) to 0.117 W/(m·K), whereas the degree of anisotropy was 0.126–0.187, indicating that the structure of foams was approximate to isotropic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geopolymers in Construction Industry)
Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 16363 KiB  
Article
Influence of Waste Glass Addition on the Fire Resistance, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Geopolymer Composites
by Celina Ziejewska, Agnieszka Grela, Dariusz Mierzwiński and Marek Hebda
Materials 2023, 16(17), 6011; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16176011 - 01 Sep 2023
Viewed by 842
Abstract
Nowadays, humanity has to face the problem of constantly increasing amounts of waste, which cause not only environmental pollution but also poses a critical danger to human health. Moreover, the growth of landfill sites involves high costs of establishment, development, and maintenance. Glass [...] Read more.
Nowadays, humanity has to face the problem of constantly increasing amounts of waste, which cause not only environmental pollution but also poses a critical danger to human health. Moreover, the growth of landfill sites involves high costs of establishment, development, and maintenance. Glass is one of the materials whose recycling ratio is still insufficient. Therefore, in the presented work, the influence of the particle size and share of waste glass on the consistency, morphology, specific surface area, water absorption, setting time, and mechanical properties of geopolymers was determined. Furthermore, for the first time, the fire resistance and final setting time of such geopolymer composites were presented in a wide range. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the geopolymer containing 20% unsorted waste glass obtained a final setting time that was 44% less than the sample not containing waste glass, 51.5 MPa of compressive strength (135.2% higher than the reference sample), and 13.5 MPa of residual compressive strength after the fire resistance test (164.7% more than the reference sample). Furthermore, it was found that the final setting time and the total pore volume closely depended on the additive’s share and particle size. In addition, the use of waste glass characterized by larger particle sizes led to higher strength and lower mass loss after exposure to high temperatures compared to the composite containing smaller ones. The results presented in this work allow not only for reducing the costs and negative impact on the environment associated with landfilling but also for developing a simple, low-cost method of producing a modern geopolymer composite with beneficial properties for the construction industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geopolymers in Construction Industry)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 10165 KiB  
Article
Development of Alkali Activated Inorganic Foams Based on Construction and Demolition Wastes for Thermal Insulation Applications
by Adrienn Boros, Gábor Erdei and Tamás Korim
Materials 2023, 16(11), 4065; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16114065 - 30 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 876
Abstract
Nowadays, the construction industry is challenged not only by increasingly strict environmental regulations, but also by a shortage of raw materials and additives. It is critical to find new sources with which the circular economy and zero waste approach can be achieved. Promising [...] Read more.
Nowadays, the construction industry is challenged not only by increasingly strict environmental regulations, but also by a shortage of raw materials and additives. It is critical to find new sources with which the circular economy and zero waste approach can be achieved. Promising candidates are alkali activated cements (AAC), which offer the potential to convert industrial wastes into higher added value products. The aim of the present research is to develop waste-based AAC foams with thermal insulation properties. During the experiments, pozzolanic materials (blast furnace slag, fly ash, and metakaolin) and waste concrete powder were used to produce first dense and then foamed structural materials. The effects of the concrete fractions, the relative proportions of each fraction, the liquid/solid ratio, and the amount of foaming agents on the physical properties were investigated. A correlation between macroscopic properties (strength, porosity, and thermal conductivity) and micro/macro structure was examined. It was found that concrete waste itself is suitable for the production of AACs, but when combined with other aluminosilicate source, the strength can be increased from 10 MPa up to 47 MPa. The thermal conductivity (0.049 W/mK) of the produced non-flammable foams is comparable to commercially available insulating materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geopolymers in Construction Industry)
Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 7076 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Setting Time and Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of MK/GGBFS-Blended Geopolymer Pastes
by Qingyu Zhong, Xiang Tian, Guolun Xie, Xi Luo and Hui Peng
Materials 2022, 15(23), 8431; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15238431 - 26 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 939
Abstract
In this study, geopolymer pastes with 60% metakaolin (MK) and 40% ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) were synthesized. To determine the influence of the alkaline activator concentration, modulus, and the liquid/solid (L/S) ratio on setting time and compressive strength, the geopolymerization process and [...] Read more.
In this study, geopolymer pastes with 60% metakaolin (MK) and 40% ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) were synthesized. To determine the influence of the alkaline activator concentration, modulus, and the liquid/solid (L/S) ratio on setting time and compressive strength, the geopolymerization process and microstructures of MK/GGBFS-blended geopolymer pastes were analyzed using isothermal calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, mercury intrusion porosimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. Acid dissolution was employed to measure reaction extent. The results showed that the initial setting time of the geopolymer pastes was between 68 and 226 min, and the initial setting and final setting time was apart about by 10 min. For the same variable, the total heat released was positively correlated to the reaction extent. Available silicate content increased the reaction rate and intensity at the initial stage, whereas the OH concentration controlled the reaction extent in the long term. A limited reaction extent existed in the geopolymeric reaction even if the system contained sufficient alkali content and medium. An increase in the L/S ratio increased the reaction extent. The highest reaction extent of 86.3% was found in the study. Additionally, increasing the L/S ratio reduced the compressive strength by increasing the porosity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geopolymers in Construction Industry)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop