Concrete/Glass Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) Synergies in Ternary Eco-Cement-Paste Mineralogy

Materials (Basel). 2022 Jul 2;15(13):4661. doi: 10.3390/ma15134661.

Abstract

The study described sought further understanding of the synergies in a mix of CDW pozzolans, containing (calcareous and siliceous) concrete and glass waste, used to prepare ternary eco-cement paste bearing 7% of the binary blend at concrete/glass ratios of 2:1 and 1:2. The mineralogical phases in the 2-day, 28-day, and 90-day cement matrices were identified and monitored using XRF, XRD-Rietveld, SEM-EDX, FT-IR, and NMR. The findings showed that changes in the reaction kinetics in the ternary blended pastes relative to OPC pastes depended on the nature of the recycled concrete and the glass content. Adding the binary mix bearing calcareous concrete (at a ratio of 2:1) favoured ettringite, portlandite, and amorphous phase formation, whilst the blends with siliceous concrete favoured C-S-H gel formation. Monocarboaluminate was detected in the 90-day siliceous concrete and glass pastes in amounts similar to those found in the reference OPC paste.

Keywords: construction and demolition waste (CDW); glass; mineralogical phases; pozzolan synergies; recycled concrete; ternary eco-cements.

Grants and funding

This research was conducted under a national project (grant number RTI2018-097074- B-C21 and C-22) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (MICIU), the Spanish National Research Agency (AEI), and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).