Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.4
3.2
Journals
Materials
Special Issues
Recycling Waste Materials into Geopolymer Concrete and Environmental Functional Materials
materials-logo
Submit to Materials Review for Materials Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Recycling Waste Materials into Geopolymer Concrete and Environmental Functional Materials

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 May 2025) | Viewed by 6708

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jirong Lan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: high value-added environmental functional materials; bulk solid waste; resource treatment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yiqie Dong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, China
Interests: resource utilization of industrial solid waste; development and application of silica-aluminum based cementing materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Solid waste-based building materials and environmental functional materials play an important role in resource protection, waste reduction, environmentally friendly and sustainable development, economic benefits, etc. It is extremely important to encourage the preparation and wide application of solid waste-based building materials in order to establish a sustainable society and environment.

This Special Issue aims to present recent advances in the recycling of waste materials into geopolymer concrete and environmental functional materials. It seeks to bring together researchers from various fields, including physics, chemistry, materials science, and engineering, to contribute their expertise to the discussion of defects in soft matter.

The Special Issue will cover a wide range of topics related to the complete use of resources, and defects in waste materials including coal gangue, fly ash, tailings, industrial by-product gypsum, smelting slag, construction waste, and crop straw.

Contributions in the form of full papers, communications, and reviews are welcomed. The submitted manuscripts should address the recycling and harmless treatment of solid waste, as well as characterize the pollution sources of solid waste. The goal of this Special Issue is to strengthen the material application of solid waste in order to advance the development of a circular economy.

Dr. Jirong Lan
Dr. Yiqie Dong
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. Materials 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

  • solid waste
  • waste materials
  • geopolymer concrete
  • environmental functional materials
  • civil structure

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 7100 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial Activity of Eco-Friendly Fly-Ash-Based Geopolymer Mortar
by Zeynep Iyigundogdu, Hüsamettin Ürünveren, Ahmet Beycioğlu and Nabi Ibadov
Materials 2025, 18(8), 1735; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18081735 - 10 Apr 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 517
Abstract
As cement production causes large amounts of CO2 emissions and is not sustainable, there is a growing worldwide interest in developing cleaner construction materials by reducing carbon emissions and reusing existing industrial waste. Also, antimicrobially active construction materials are gaining attention due [...] Read more.
As cement production causes large amounts of CO2 emissions and is not sustainable, there is a growing worldwide interest in developing cleaner construction materials by reducing carbon emissions and reusing existing industrial waste. Also, antimicrobially active construction materials are gaining attention due to enhancing structural longevity. By preventing microbial growth, these materials help to improve indoor air quality and occupant health. Geopolymer mortars/concretes (GPM/GPC) with high mechanical, physical and durability properties are considered as an eco-friendly alternative to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) mortars/concretes. In this study, the composition, microstructural, mechanical and antimicrobial properties of geopolymers produced at different curing temperatures (60, 80, 100 and 120 °C) were investigated. Low-lime fly ash was used as binder and sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide were used as the alkaline solution in geopolymer production. Although X-ray fluorescence (XRF) results showed an increase in geopolymerization products with increasing temperature, SEM analysis showed that the crack formation that occurs in the microstructure of geopolymers cured above 100 °C leads to decreased mechanical properties. The strength and antimicrobial performance test results for geopolymer mortars showed that the optimum temperature was 100 °C, and the highest compressive strength (48.41 MPa) was reached at this temperature. A decrease in strength was observed due to cracks occurring in the microstructure at higher temperatures. The agar diffusion method was used to determine the antimicrobial activity of GPMs against four bacteria and one fungus species. The antimicrobial activity test results showed that the samples subjected to thermal curing at 100 °C formed the highest inhibition zones (38.94–49.24 mm). Furthermore, the alkalinity of the components/mixtures has a direct relationship with antimicrobial activity. As a result, GPMs with superior antimicrobial and mechanical properties can be considered as promising building materials, especially for construction applications where hygiene is a priority and for structures that are likely to be exposed to microbial corrosion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling Waste Materials into Geopolymer Concrete and Environmental Functional Materials)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 5394 KiB  
Article
Research on Utilizable Calcium from Calcium Carbide Slag with Different Extractors and Its Effect on CO2 Mineralization
by Yantao Ma, Xiang Zhang, Zhengyu Du, Haobo Hou and Yiguang Zheng
Materials 2024, 17(5), 1068; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17051068 - 26 Feb 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2225
Abstract
With the increasing accumulation of alkaline industrial solid waste, the mineralization of CO2 using alkaline industrial solid waste has broad application prospects. Carbide slag is highly alkaline and contains a large amount of calcium elements, making it an excellent material for CO [...] Read more.
With the increasing accumulation of alkaline industrial solid waste, the mineralization of CO2 using alkaline industrial solid waste has broad application prospects. Carbide slag is highly alkaline and contains a large amount of calcium elements, making it an excellent material for CO2 mineralization. Our idea was to acquire qualified products and fast kinetics by integrating carbide slag utilization and carbon reduction. The reaction route was divided into two steps: calcium extraction and carbonization. In order to achieve efficient extraction of utilizable calcium, we selected NH4Ac as the extraction agent, which has the advantage of buffer protection and environmental friendliness due to being an acetate radical. The extraction efficiency of utilizable calcium exceeded 90% under the conditions of L/S 20:1 and NH4+/Ca2+ 2:1. In the carbonization process, the crystal forms of CaCO3 synthesized by direct carbonation, acid extraction, and ammonium salt were characterized. The formation mechanism of vaterite in ammonium solution and the influence of impurities (Al3+, Mg2+) on the crystal transformation were revealed. This study provides technical support for using alkaline industrial waste to prepare high-purity vaterite. Therefore, alkaline industrial waste can be efficiently and sustainably utilized through CO2 mineralization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling Waste Materials into Geopolymer Concrete and Environmental Functional Materials)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 5245 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Cementitious Materials from Mechanochemically Modified Copper Smelting Slag Compounded with High-Aluminum Fly Ash
by Dige Sheng, Jirong Lan, Zhengyu Du, Yantao Ma, Min Zhou and Haobo Hou
Materials 2024, 17(3), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17030546 - 23 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1428
Abstract
Copper smelting slag discharged from mining and high-aluminum fly ash generated during the combustion of coal for energy production are two typical bulk solid wastes, which are necessary to carry out harmless and resourceful treatment. This research proposed an eco-friendly and economical method [...] Read more.
Copper smelting slag discharged from mining and high-aluminum fly ash generated during the combustion of coal for energy production are two typical bulk solid wastes, which are necessary to carry out harmless and resourceful treatment. This research proposed an eco-friendly and economical method for the co-consumption of copper smelting slag and high-aluminum fly ash. Cementitious materials were compounded with copper smelting slag and high-aluminum fly ash as the main materials were successfully prepared, with a 28-d compressive strength up to 31.22 MPa, and the heavy metal leaching toxicity was below the limits of the relevant standards. The optimum mechanical properties of the cementitious materials were obtained by altering the material proportion, ball mill rotation speed, and CaO dosage. Under the combined effect of mechanical ball milling at a suitable speed and chemical activation with a certain alkali concentration, the prepared cementitious materials had an initial activation. The pastes of the cementitious materials generated a gel system during the subsequent hydration process. The two steps together improved the mechanical strength of the cured products. The preparation was simple to operate and offered a high stability of heavy metals. The heavy metal contaminants were kept at a low content throughout the process from raw materials to the prepared cured specimens, which was suitable for application in practical environmental remediation projects and could provide effective solutions for ecological environment construction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling Waste Materials into Geopolymer Concrete and Environmental Functional Materials)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 8418 KiB  
Article
Research on the Moisture Stability of Asphalt Mixtures with Three Solid Waste Fillers
by Jinxuan Hu, Yuyi Chen, Meizhu Chen, Yang Yu, Shiyu Song, Jie Wu and Xiantao Qin
Materials 2023, 16(23), 7261; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16237261 - 21 Nov 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1711
Abstract
Widespread interest has been drawn to the use of solid waste fillers as a partial replacement for natural fillers in high-performance asphalt mixtures in recent years. However, variations in the material properties of solid waste fillers remain a problem for the recycling method. [...] Read more.
Widespread interest has been drawn to the use of solid waste fillers as a partial replacement for natural fillers in high-performance asphalt mixtures in recent years. However, variations in the material properties of solid waste fillers remain a problem for the recycling method. To address this issue, the limestone powder in asphalt mixtures was replaced with three solid waste fillers, including steel slag powder, tailings powder and calcium carbide slag powder in this study. The chemical composition of the fillers was first characterized to assess the homogeneity of the material. Then, a dense-graded asphalt mixture (AC) and a stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixture were designed, produced and characterized for wet stability. The results show that the asphalt mixtures with solid waste fillers were superior to limestone powder (LP) asphalt mixtures in terms of resistance to water damage, and the steel slag powder showed the best improvement in moisture stability of the asphalt mixtures. The optimum substitution of solid waste filler for limestone filler was 25%. With the addition of anti-stripping agents, the moisture stability of the asphalt mixture with limestone filler was also greatly enhanced. On the contrary, a marginal enhancement was observed in the moisture stability of asphalt mixtures using solid waste fillers. Solid waste fillers can be used in asphalt mixtures and have a similar function as that of anti-stripping agents. In summary, the use of solid waste fillers to replace mineral fillers in asphalt mixtures is a reliable, value-added recycling option. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recycling Waste Materials into Geopolymer Concrete and Environmental Functional Materials)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop