Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Low-Carbon and Sustainable Cement-Based Composites

Dear Colleagues,

Cement-based composites, such as grouts, mortars and concrete, are frequently used materials in the building and construction industry, providing the backbone for modern structures and infrastructure projects. However, in the current era of climate change and sustainable development, those systems are facing significant challenges related to substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and huge consumption of primary raw materials. To tackle those challenges, innovations in the design, manufacturing and use of those composites are necessary.  In this regard, the development and application of low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites provide a very useful strategy to achieve the goals of climate and environment protection. The exploitation of emerging supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and the incorporation of secondary raw materials (such as recycled construction materials and industrial by-products) are especially interesting to reduce the environmental impact and improve the sustainability of cement-based composites.

However, it needs to be pointed out that, despite the advantages of low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites, certain limitations can arise, such as decreased workability and rheological properties, lower strength development at early ages and reduced durability, which often represent outstanding issues with those materials.  New ideas are thus needed to ensure a safe and optimal use of them.   

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect and reflect the most recent advances in low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites. The development and performance assessment of novel and low-carbon binder systems, new mixture design strategies, advanced microstructural characterisation, data-driven optimisation, circularity and sustainability assessment of those composite systems are particularly welcomed.

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

• Novel and low-carbon cement and concrete;
• Low-clinker cement and products;
• Emerging supplementary cementitious materials;
• Alternative (non-Portland) cements and concrete based on those cements;
• Innovative mixture design methods of cement-based materials;
• Workability and rheology of low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites;
• Early-age strength of low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites;
• Microstructure development and characterisation;
• Durability and long-term performance of low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites;
• Circularity and sustainability assessment of low-carbon and sustainable cement-based composites;
• Additive manufacturing of low-carbon cementitious materials;
• Sustainable cement-based composites enabled by emerging materials.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your recent research work in the field of low-carbon and sustainable cement composites. We believe this collection will provide interesting and useful information for researchers, graduates, practitioners, professionals and other actors in the building and construction industry.  

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Jiabin Li
Prof. Dr. Baoguo Han
Dr. Junjie Zeng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• low-carbon cements
• sustainable cement-based composites
• fresh behaviour
• hardened properties
• circularity
• sustainability