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Chemical Additives and Alternative Admixtures for Sustainable Construction Materials
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Chemical Additives and Alternative Admixtures for Sustainable Construction Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 4105

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Zbyšek Pavlík

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials Engineering and Chemistry, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Thákurova 7, 166 29 Prague, Czech Republic
Interests: design, development and testing of new materials for construction use; waste to materials; low energy materials; pozzolanic materials; buildings physics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Let me introduce this Special Issue of Materials, devoted to novel chemical additives and alternative admixtures for the development and production of sustainable construction materials. Nowadays, requirements for the sustainability of construction production and a reduction in its negative impacts on the environment are increasingly emphasized. This can only be achieved through the development of new building materials that are at least partly based on sustainable resources and have a low carbon footprint. The development of such materials implies the reuse of waste or secondary raw material resources, as well as the study and development of alternative admixtures and additives to improve the functional parameters of materials and their durability in relation to the specific requirements of building structures and construction practices. Currently, a number of additives are applied in the production of building materials, either in the preparation of the raw material mixture itself or subsequently for the modification of specific required properties, such as workability, compactability, the dispersion of reinforcing fibers and nanoparticles, hydrophobicity, mechanical resistance, abrasion resistance, the aeration of a matrix, or, on the contrary, its defoaming, etc. Similarly, various mineral and organic admixtures are used in the production of, e.g., lightweight materials, compound binders, and alternative fillers.

Although many construction composites incorporating different kinds of additives and admixtures have already been developed, there is still an open field for the design and development of new advanced types of materials that can be produced more effectively from functional, economic, and environmental points of view.

This Special Issue of Materials welcomes papers from all areas of material research aimed at the design, development, and assessment of new composites for construction use, modified with novel chemical additives and alternative admixtures, where papers of high quality and contributing with clear novelty to the studied topic will be accepted.

Prof. Dr. Zbyšek Pavlík
Guest Editor

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

  • chemical additives
  • alternative admixtures
  • construction composites
  • experimental assessment
  • durability

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6524 KiB  
Article
A Study on the Effect of Graphene Oxide on Geotechnical Properties of Soil
by Kyungwon Park, Ju-Hoon Kim, Junwoo Shin, Hoyoung Lee and Boo Hyun Nam
Materials 2024, 17(24), 6199; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17246199 - 18 Dec 2024
Viewed by 607
Abstract
Edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO) is a nano-sized material that is chemically stable and easily mixed with water due to its hydrophilic properties; thus, it has been used in various engineering fields, particularly for the reinforcement of building and construction materials. In this study, [...] Read more.
Edge-oxidized graphene oxide (EOGO) is a nano-sized material that is chemically stable and easily mixed with water due to its hydrophilic properties; thus, it has been used in various engineering fields, particularly for the reinforcement of building and construction materials. In this study, the effect of EOGO in soil reinforcement was investigated. When mixed with soil, it affects the mechanical properties of the soil–GO mixture. Various amounts of the GO (0%, 0.02%, 0.06%, 0.1%) were added into the sand–clay mixture, and their geotechnical properties were evaluated via multiple laboratories testing methods, including a standard Proctor test, direct shear test, compressibility test, and contact angle measurement. The experimental results show that with the addition of EOGO in soil of up to 0.06% EOGO, the compressibility decreases, the shear strength increases, and the maximum dry density (after compaction) increases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Additives and Alternative Admixtures for Sustainable Construction Materials)
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21 pages, 4161 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Drying Sensitivity of Alkali-Activated Binders Through Mechanical Reliability: Effect of Particle Size and Packing
by Willian F. Camargo, Ana M. Segadães and Robinson C. D. Cruz
Materials 2024, 17(22), 5461; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17225461 - 8 Nov 2024
Viewed by 697
Abstract
Despite the steady progress of research on the alkali activation of wastes or subproducts from established industrial processes, the brittleness of the hardened alkali-activated materials frequently results in questionable mechanical reliability, particularly in industrial applications beyond construction materials. This work used a 3 [...] Read more.
Despite the steady progress of research on the alkali activation of wastes or subproducts from established industrial processes, the brittleness of the hardened alkali-activated materials frequently results in questionable mechanical reliability, particularly in industrial applications beyond construction materials. This work used a 33 factorial Design of Experiments to examine the effect of three different particle size distributions on the compressive strength and mechanical reliability (Weibull modulus) of a sodium silicate-activated blast-furnace slag under the same processing conditions. As expected, curing temperature and time were strongly correlated, and the corresponding response surfaces showed that, for all studied particle sizes, compressive strengths above 60 MPa with mechanical reliability above 5.0 could be obtained by curing at ~60 °C for ~40 h. The particle size differences caused no significant changes in the extent of alkali activation, as seen in the infrared-spectroscopy results. However, the intersection of the response surfaces showed that a coarser and narrower particle size distribution extended the working area (time × temperature) and favored mechanical reliability. Thus, the precursor’s particle size distribution, which governs particle packing and viscosity during processing, also determines the permeability of the set binder, which affects water removal during drying and the dried binder’s mechanical performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Additives and Alternative Admixtures for Sustainable Construction Materials)
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16 pages, 9105 KiB  
Article
Effect of Waste PET Fiber on the Mechanical Properties and Chloride Ion Penetration of Emergency Repair Concrete for Road Pavement
by Su-Jin Lee, Hyungjin Shin, Han-Na Lee, Sang-Hyun Park, Hyoung-Moo Kim and Chan-Gi Park
Materials 2024, 17(21), 5352; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17215352 - 31 Oct 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1162
Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of adding waste PET fibers on the mechanical properties and chloride ion penetration of latex-modified ultra-rapid hardening cement concrete used for emergency road pavement repairs. The primary experimental variable was the content of waste PET fibers. The mechanical [...] Read more.
This study evaluated the effects of adding waste PET fibers on the mechanical properties and chloride ion penetration of latex-modified ultra-rapid hardening cement concrete used for emergency road pavement repairs. The primary experimental variable was the content of waste PET fibers. The mechanical properties of the concrete were evaluated through compressive strength, flexural strength, and splitting tensile strength tests. Its durability was evaluated through chloride ion penetration, surface resistivity, and abrasion resistance tests. The experimental results were compared with the quality standards for emergency repair concrete set by the Korea Expressway Corporation. As a result, this study has enhanced the strength and resistance to chloride ions of latex-modified concrete by incorporating waste PET fibers. In the mixture with 3.84 kg/m3 of waste PET fibers, the compressive strength was 29.9 MPa at 4 h and 42.5 MPa at 28 curing days. The flexural strength was 6.0 MPa at 4 curing hours and 7.0 MPa at 28 days, and the splitting tensile strength was 4.5 MPa at 28 days of curing. The chloride ion permeability amount and abrasion depth were 1081C and 0.82 mm, respectively. The mixture with 3.84 kg/m3 of waste PET fibers has superior compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting tensile strength, chloride ion penetration, and surface resistivity compared to the mixture with 7.68 kg/m3. This result means that the waste PET fibers caused poor dispersion and fiber-balling within the concrete, leading to loose internal void structures when incorporated at 3.84 kg/m3. However, the abrasion resistance test showed better results for the mixture with 7.68 kg/m3 of waste PET fibers than the 3.84 kg/m3 mixture. Therefore, the test results indicated that 3.84 kg/m3 of waste PET fibers is the most effective for latex-modified concrete used in emergency road pavement repairs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Additives and Alternative Admixtures for Sustainable Construction Materials)
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18 pages, 2342 KiB  
Article
Development and Characterization of Lime-Based Mortars Modified with Graphene Nanoplatelets
by Adam Pivák, Milena Pavlíková, Martina Záleská and Zbyšek Pavlík
Materials 2024, 17(20), 5022; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17205022 - 14 Oct 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1058
Abstract
Materials for the conservation of cultural heritage must meet specific demands, such as high durability, service life, and compatibility with other materials used in the original building structures. Due to their low permeability to water and water vapor and their high rigidity, the [...] Read more.
Materials for the conservation of cultural heritage must meet specific demands, such as high durability, service life, and compatibility with other materials used in the original building structures. Due to their low permeability to water and water vapor and their high rigidity, the use of Portland cement (PC) mortars, despite their high mechanical resistance and durability, does not represent an appropriate solution for the repair of historic masonry and structures. Their incompatibility with the original materials used in the past, often on a lime basis, is therefore a serious deficiency for their application. On the other hand, lime-based mortars, compared to PC-based materials, are more susceptible to mechanical stress, but they possess high porosity, a high water vapor transmission rate, and moderate liquid water transport. This study aims at the development of two types of lime-based mortars, calcium lime (CL) and hydraulic lime (HL). The modification of mortars was conducted with a carbon-based nanoadditive and graphene nanoplatelets (GNs) in three dosages: 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5% of the binder weight. The enhancement of CL mortars by GNs greatly increased mechanical strength and affected heat transport characteristics, while other characteristics such as porosity, water absorption, and drying rate remained almost similar. The application of GNs to HL not only enhanced the strength of mortars but also decreased their porosity, influenced pore size distribution, and other dependent characteristics. It can be concluded that the use of graphene nanoplatelets as an additive of lime-based composites can be considered a promising method to reinforce and functionalize these composite materials. The improved mechanical resistance while maintaining other properties may be favorable in view of the increasing requirements of building materials and may prolong the life span of building constructions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Additives and Alternative Admixtures for Sustainable Construction Materials)
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