Waste Clay Bricks as a Geopolymer Binder for Pavement Construction

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and suggestions:
1. To substantiate the manifestation of the geopolymerization process with the establishment of characteristic indicators in the structure of materials.
2. To show the physico-chemical processes occurring during the formation of geopolymers with WCB. Pay more attention to the processes of structure formation, the results of geopolymerization, mineralogical and chemical composition of structures.
3. To evaluate the influence of various factors on the physical and mechanical properties of geopolymers with WCB.
4. When evaluating concrete, show the compositions and results of laboratory analysis, physical and mechanical properties. Features of the structure and properties of concretes with WCB-based geopolymers.

Author Response

We thank the reviewers, and the Editor’s, for the thorough review and critical feedback provided, all comments are addressed.

Please see the attachment 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

The paper provides an extensive review of work done on using waste clay brick as a binder material. Data are clearly presented and well organized.

I have no specific comments except that some minor English language editing is required. Also I recommend the authors to explain the term "raw WBC" which is used on page 8, chapter 3.1, line 198.

Author Response

We thank the reviewers, and the Editor’s, for the thorough review and critical feedback provided, all comments are addressed.

Please see the attachment 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Waste Clay Bricks as a Geopolymer Binder for Pavement Construction

Manuscript Number: sustainability-

In the present paper, authors provide a comprehensive review on producing waste clay brick-based geopolymer with the focus, particularly on the properties of raw materials, activator types and their concentrations, curing conditions, binary geopolymer systems, mechanical properties of waste clay brick-based geopolymer binders and their feasibility as an alternative cement material in pavement construction. However, the paper requires some minor improvement before it can be recommended for publication, it is proposed to re-submit a thoroughly revised version of the manuscript, considering the following comments.

1.     The review methodology is missing in the abstract
2. The overall recommendation should be reported in one sentence at the end of the abstract
3. The authors should overview the recent progress made in the relevant area in the past two years or so.
4. Line 58-59 “several studies on natural clay-based materials have found that even low amorphous ….” Please add some latest references such as  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmatsci.2016.08.002; https://doi.org/10.12989/acc.2021.11.2.127
5.  Sometimes authors use spacing before units and sometimes not. Please unify format in whole manuscript,
6. The paper is well written and it is easy to follow, only the authors need to go thoroughly revised version to correct the typo-mistake.
7.  It would be interesting if they could provide a discussion on the economic feasibility and applicability of the waste materials in construction.
8.  Author should highlight the assumptions and limitations and future research direction of the study.   

Author Response

We thank the reviewers, and the Editor’s, for the thorough review and critical feedback provided, all comments are addressed.

Please see the attachment 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf