Engineering Properties of High-Volume Fly Ash Modified Cement Incorporated with Bottle Glass Waste Nanoparticles

Abstract

Eco-friendly sustainable construction materials with low carbon dioxide emissions and low energy consumption which utilize agricultural and industrial waste are widely recommended. Utilizing high-volume fly ash waste (FA) as a cement replacement will contribute to a reduction in the environmental problems related to cement production and landfill disposal. It is well known that the inclusion of high amounts of FA (up to 50%) as a cement replacement leads to low strength performance, especially at a concrete’s early age (below 7 days). In this study, a cement mortar with high-volume FA (60%) was developed with strength enhancement. With nanotechnology and nanomaterial benefits, nanoparticles from bottle glass waste (BGWNP) were produced and used to replace 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10% of cement–FA binder. The results showed that the compressive strength significantly improved with the inclusion of the BGWNP in a high-volume FA matrix and the strength trend increased from 21.3 to 328 MPa with increasing nanoparticle content from 0 to 6%. However, the results indicated that the inclusion of nanoparticles up to 6% led to a slight reduction in strength value. Similar trends were observed for other engineering and microstructure properties and the matrix containing 6% of BGWNP achieved the highest performance compared to that of the control sample. It is concluded that, with the utilization of BGWNP, there is an ability to produce high-volume FA-based cement with acceptable engineering properties as well as achieve sustainability goals by reducing pollution, recycling waste, and resolving landfill issues.