Abstract
Rapid growth in industrial development has raised the concern of proper disposal of the by-products generated in industries. Many of them may cause serious pollution to the air, land, and water if dumped in open landfills. Agricultural and municipal wastes also cause environmental issues if not managed properly. Besides, minimizing the carbon footprint has become a priority in every industry to slow down global warming and climate change effects. The use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) obtained from agricultural, industrial, municipal, and natural sources can decrease a significant amount of fossil fuel burning by reducing cement production and contribute to proper waste management. Also, SCMs can enhance desirable material properties like flowability, strength, and durability. Such materials may play a big role to meet the need of modern time for resilient construction. The effective application of SCMs in cement-based materials requires a clear understanding of their physical and chemical characteristics. Researchers studied how the flowability, strength, and durability properties of structural mortar change with the replacement of cement with different SCMs. Various experiments were conducted to examine the behavior of structural mortar in extreme conditions (e.g., high temperature). Many scholars have attempted to improve its performance with various treatment techniques. This article is an attempt to bring all the major findings of the recent relevant studies together, identify research gaps in the current state of knowledge on the utilization of SCMs in structural mortar, and give several recommendations for further study. The available results from recent studies have been reviewed, analyzed, and summarized in this article. A collection of the updated experimental findings will encourage and ease the use of various by-products and wastes as SCMs in structural mortar for sustainable construction.
Highlights
Every second, a rain forest with the size of 19 tennis courts vanishes, 1600 tons of ice melt in Greenland, a desert area of 78 m2 expands in China, and 720 tons of CO2 are emitted by fossil fuel combustion [1]
Sustainability 2020, 12, 3888 of the present study is to summarize the effects of the major supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) on the key properties of structural mortar so that the experts can decide a suitable amount for their purpose
The mortar containing Bottom ash (BA) of particles finer than 300 μm lost about 32%–42% of its 28-day strength at 180 days; 454,000 parts per billion of potassium (K+) ions were detected in the solutions processed from the water absorption test of 30% BA mortar samples; this value was only 52,700 ppb for the control mortar samples; alkali-silica reaction (ASR) may have occurred at this high concentration of dissolved K+ ions, resulting in degradation of amorphous, as well as crystalline silica: the progressive dissolution of K+ ions in ASR imparts the loss of mechanical properties at later ages [35]
Summary
A rain forest with the size of 19 tennis courts vanishes, 1600 tons of ice melt in Greenland, a desert area of 78 m2 expands in China, and 720 tons of CO2 are emitted by fossil fuel combustion [1]. The proper disposal of these materials is a big concern As these materials possess cementitious and/or pozzolanic properties, they can be used as a partial replacement of cement in cementitious composites, decreasing the high production cost and environmental pollution associated with cement factories. Polar, and desert areas need cementitious products of special properties for their structures For these limiting conditions, it is difficult to find an appropriate SCM for a specific purpose and optimize its quantity for cement-based materials. The use of more SCMs as a partial replacement of cement will decrease the cost of cementitious products, reduce the environmental pollution, and consume the agricultural and industrial by-products or wastes; it will contribute to significant progress towards sustainable construction. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3888 of the present study is to summarize the effects of the major SCMs on the key properties of structural mortar so that the experts can decide a suitable amount for their purpose
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