Roles of Waste Glass and the Effect of Process Parameters on the Properties of Sustainable Cement and Geopolymer Concrete—A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

Recent research has revealed the promising potential of using waste glass (WG) as a binder or inert filler in cement and geopolymer concrete to deliver economic and environmental benefits to the construction sector. However, the outcomes obtained by different research groups are scattered and difficult to compare directly because of isolated process parameters. In this study, the roles and impacts of WG and process parameters on the performance of WG-added cement and geopolymer concrete are critically reviewed. This study reveals that the chemical and mineralogical composition, and particle size of WG, mix proportion, activation, and curing condition of concrete are the most important parameters that affect the dissolution behavior of WG and chemical reactivity between WG and other elements in concrete; consequently, these show impacts on properties of concrete and optimum WG level for various applications. These parameters are required to be optimized based on the guidelines for high pozzolanicity and less alkali–silica reactivity of WG in concrete. This review provides a critical discussion and guidelines on these parameters and the chemistry of WG in cement and geopolymer concrete for best practice and highlights the current challenges with future research directions.

Evaluation of the Effect of Recycled Polypropylene as Fine Aggregate Replacement on the Strength Performance and Chloride Penetration of Mortars

“…Recently the use of recycled polymers in geopolymer concrete has been under investigation [ 40 ]. Abousnina et al [ 41 ] added short fibers, including polypropylene fibers, to enhance the mechanical properties of geopolymer mortar containing fine oil-contaminated sand.…”

The Effect of Pozzolanic Waste of Different Nature on the Hydration Products, Structure and Properties of Hardened Cement Paste

“…In theory, waste glass can be fully recycled in a conventional production process, but this is not an easy task due to the complexity of the cleaning, separation and sorting processes. For decades the academic community has been working hard to develop the use of waste glass in the production of building materials [15][16][17].…”

Chemical and Microstructural Properties of Fly Ash and Fly Ash/Slag Activated by Waste Glass-Derived Sodium Silicate

“…Almost eighty percent of 130 million tonnes of global production of glass each year are being discarded as waste while only 21% of the waste glass (WG) is recycled [1,2]. The waste glass has been investigated either as a substitution for binder (because of its pozzolanic properties) or as a replacement for aggregate in concrete.…”

“…Ke et al showed that using waste glass with a particle size coarser than 300 µm and a substitution rate higher than 30% induces ASR expansion [4]. Siddika et al reported that the ASR expansion issue is less critical for geopolymers compared with conventional concrete [1,2].…”