Sustainable Cement-Based Materials and Low-Carbon Construction Technologies

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 February 2026 | Viewed by 657

Special Issue Editors

Key Laboratory of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Interests: low-carbon cement-based materials; carbonation and hydration
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Guest Editor
Magnel-Vandepitte Laboratory for Structural Engineering and Building Materials, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Interests: carbonation curing; durability, sustainable construction materials; digital concrete technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction industry plays a pivotal role in global carbon emissions, prompting a pressing need for sustainable construction materials and technologies. This Special Issue aims to collect original research and review articles focused on recent advances in sustainable construction materials and low-carbon technologies. Emphasis is placed on the low-carbon design and durability enhancement of cement-based materials, the integration of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in construction practices, and the implementation of digital technologies for greener and more efficient construction.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Development of low-carbon cementitious materials;
  • Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in construction;
  • Low-carbon design approaches for cement-based systems;
  • Durability improvements of sustainable construction materials;
  • 3D printing and digital manufacturing of cementitious components;
  • Life-cycle assessments and environmental impacts of new materials;
  • Integration of AI and digital tools for material design and process optimization.

We invite researchers and practitioners to contribute their latest findings that contribute to the decarbonization and digital transformation of construction materials and technologies.

Dr. Qiang Ren
Dr. Yi Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • low-carbon cementitious materials
  • durability improvement
  • low-carbon design of cement-based materials
  • carbon capture, utilization, and storage
  • improvement of durability
  • sustainable construction technology
  • life-cycle assessment
  • artificial intelligence
  • decarbonization
  • digital manufacturing

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3703 KiB  
Article
A Study on the Hydrophobicity and Icephobicity of Modified Cement-Based Composite Coatings for Anti-/De-Icing of Guardrail Concrete
by Jianping Gao, Pan Zhou, Xianlong Shi, Kang Gu, Hongji Chen, Qian Yang and Zhengwu Jiang
Buildings 2025, 15(13), 2263; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15132263 - 27 Jun 2025
Viewed by 246
Abstract
Guardrail concrete in cold regions frequently suffers from corrosion due to icing and solutions, significantly shortening the service life of the guardrail. This paper proposed a cement-based composite coating for concrete protection. The hydrophobic agent was synthesized using nano-silica, tetraethyl orthosilicate and perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane [...] Read more.
Guardrail concrete in cold regions frequently suffers from corrosion due to icing and solutions, significantly shortening the service life of the guardrail. This paper proposed a cement-based composite coating for concrete protection. The hydrophobic agent was synthesized using nano-silica, tetraethyl orthosilicate and perfluorodecyltrimethoxysilane and used for coating modification as an additive or by impregnation. Also, a commercial hydrophobic agent was used for comparison. The modified coating was characterized by wettability, mechanical properties, chemical stability and icephobicity tests. The results showed that the coating prepared with the synthetic hydrophobic agent presented a higher contact angle than that prepared with the commercial one during the above tests. Moreover, it featured excellent icephobicity by effectively delaying the time of icing on concrete and reducing the icing mass and ice adhesion strength. In addition, the hydrophobic agent used by impregnation was a better choice for concrete surface protection. Chemical composition and morphology analysis of the coating showed that hydrophobicity and icephobicity were mainly attributed to F-containing functional groups and rough structure with low surface energy. This study provided an application potential of modified cement-based composite coating for anti-/de-icing of guardrail concrete. Full article
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12 pages, 1613 KiB  
Article
Mix Design-Driven Control of Carbonation and Hydration in CO2-Mixed Cement Pastes: Effects of Water, Slag, and Surfactant
by Jingliang Xia, Chunjin Li, Haoyuan Ma and Qiang Ren
Buildings 2025, 15(12), 2116; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15122116 - 18 Jun 2025
Viewed by 291
Abstract
This study systematically investigates the influence of mix proportion on and the early-age properties and CO2 uptake of CO2-mixed cement paste, focusing on variations in the water-to-binder (w/b) ratio, slag content, and air-entraining agent (AEA) dosage. Mineralogical characteristics were analyzed [...] Read more.
This study systematically investigates the influence of mix proportion on and the early-age properties and CO2 uptake of CO2-mixed cement paste, focusing on variations in the water-to-binder (w/b) ratio, slag content, and air-entraining agent (AEA) dosage. Mineralogical characteristics were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), while pore structures were assessed via nitrogen adsorption. CO2 uptake was quantified immediately after mixing. Results indicate that a low w/b ratio limits CO2 dissolution and transport, favors hydration over carbonation, and leads to a coarser pore structure. At moderate w/b ratios, excess free water facilitates concurrent carbonation and hydration; however, thinner water films ultimately hinder CaCO3 precipitation and C-S-H nucleation. Slag contents up to 30% slightly suppress early carbonation and hydration, while higher dosages significantly delay both reactions and increase capillary porosity. An increasing AEA dosage stabilizes CO2 bubbles, suppressing immediate CO2 dissolution and reducing the early formation of carbonation and hydration products; excessive AEAs promotes bubble coalescence and results in an interconnected pore network. An optimized mix design, moderate water content, slag below 30%, and limited AEA dosage enhance the synergy between carbonation and hydration, improving early pore refinement and reaction kinetics. Full article
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