Abstract
Increasing use of cement in the construction industry is causing an alarming increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which is a serious environmental threat, it can be reduced by the addition of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The commonly used SCMs like ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), metakaolin (MK) and fly ash (FA) have been successfully used to replace the cement partially or completely. Polysilicon sludge obtained from the photovoltaic industry is also a type of waste material that can be used as SCM because it has high content of reactive SiO2. This study investigates the effects of replacing cement with polysilicon sludge in concrete. Different concrete specimens were made by replacing varying proportions of cement with polysilicon sludge and their properties, such as, fresh properties, compressive strength, heat release, chloride penetration, freeze/thaw resistance and microstructural investigations were determined. The results demonstrate that the polysilicon sludge can be used effectively to replace cement, and environmental threats associated with its disposal can be reduced.
Highlights
Rapid increase in use of concrete throughout the world has become a serious menace to the green environment
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in compliance to ASTM C150, and polysilicon sludge cake from wet waste acquired from O Ceramic Company (Gunsan, Korea) were used as binders to make concrete specimens
This study explored the effects of replacing cement with polysilicon sludge particles on physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of concrete
Summary
Rapid increase in use of concrete throughout the world has become a serious menace to the green environment. Many efforts have been made to diminish excessive utilization of cement in the concrete industry to minimize the greenhouse gas emissions [4]. For this purpose, researchers have suggested to increase the incorporation of SCMs as possible replacement of cement. The frequently recycled SCMs, like, silica fume [5], FA [6], and MK [7] have been effectively added to substitute cement partially or completely These materials exhibit pozzolanic activity; the compounds making up these materials react with hydration products of cement, resulting in the development of surplus calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) gel. Recent studies reveal that waste glass powder, rich in silica, can be used as Materials 2020, 13, 251; doi:10.3390/ma13010251 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
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