Effects of recycled concrete powder on shrinkage, mechanical, and thermal behaviours of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-reinforced engineered geopolymer composites

Xie, Y; Ahmed, A; Zhang, YX

Effects of recycled concrete powder on shrinkage, mechanical, and thermal behaviours of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-reinforced engineered geopolymer composites

Xie, Y Ahmed, A Zhang, YX

Permalink

Publisher:: Elsevier
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Construction and Building Materials, 2025, 504, pp. 144603
Issue Date:: 2025-12

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download Published versionAdobe PDF (8.99 MB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Xie, Y
dc.contributor.author	Ahmed, A
dc.contributor.author	Zhang, YX
dc.date.accessioned	2025-12-18T04:28:50Z
dc.date.available	2025-12-18T04:28:50Z
dc.date.issued	2025-12
dc.identifier.citation	Construction and Building Materials, 2025, 504, pp. 144603
dc.identifier.issn	0950-0618
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/190986
dc.description.abstract	Although multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can enhance the performance of engineered geopolymer composite (EGC), the related high costs and carbon emissions remain significant challenges. This study explored the feasibility of incorporating construction waste-derived recycled concrete powders (RCPs) as fine aggregates in EGC reinforced by polyethylene (PE) fibres or hybrid MWCNTs and PE fibres. The investigated properties included drying and autogenous shrinkage, compressive and tensile performance, and thermal resistance up to 600 °C, together with cost-benefit and carbon footprint analyses. The results demonstrate that replacing natural aggregates with 75 % RCPs in MWCNT-EGC contributes to improved shrinkage, mechanical, thermal, economic, and environmental performance, while only 25 % RCPs in EGC is favourable for the compressive strength. After thermal exposure to 140 °C, MWCNT-EGC with 75 % RCPs exhibits improved tensile strength (9.49 MPa) and comparable strain capacity (9.98 %) to those at ambient temperature. After thermal exposure to 600 °C, the residual compressive strength of MWCNT-EGC with 75 % RCPs maintains 80.4 MPa, 58.2 % higher than the control group. The cost-benefit analysis and carbon footprint assessment indicate that introducing 75 % RCPs reduces costs and associated carbon emissions to achieve a unit strength than the conventional EGC with varying proportions of RCPs but without MWCNTs. These findings suggest that incorporating 75 % RCPs as fine aggregates is a financially viable and environmentally sustainable solution for MWCNT-EGC production.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC230100015
dc.relation.ispartof	Construction and Building Materials
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2025.144603
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0905 Civil Engineering, 1202 Building
dc.subject.classification	Building & Construction
dc.subject.classification	3302 Building
dc.subject.classification	4005 Civil engineering
dc.subject.classification	4016 Materials engineering
dc.title	Effects of recycled concrete powder on shrinkage, mechanical, and thermal behaviours of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-reinforced engineered geopolymer composites
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	504
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering
utslib.for	1202 Building
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM)
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-12-18T04:28:47Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	504

Abstract:

Although multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can enhance the performance of engineered geopolymer composite (EGC), the related high costs and carbon emissions remain significant challenges. This study explored the feasibility of incorporating construction waste-derived recycled concrete powders (RCPs) as fine aggregates in EGC reinforced by polyethylene (PE) fibres or hybrid MWCNTs and PE fibres. The investigated properties included drying and autogenous shrinkage, compressive and tensile performance, and thermal resistance up to 600 °C, together with cost-benefit and carbon footprint analyses. The results demonstrate that replacing natural aggregates with 75 % RCPs in MWCNT-EGC contributes to improved shrinkage, mechanical, thermal, economic, and environmental performance, while only 25 % RCPs in EGC is favourable for the compressive strength. After thermal exposure to 140 °C, MWCNT-EGC with 75 % RCPs exhibits improved tensile strength (9.49 MPa) and comparable strain capacity (9.98 %) to those at ambient temperature. After thermal exposure to 600 °C, the residual compressive strength of MWCNT-EGC with 75 % RCPs maintains 80.4 MPa, 58.2 % higher than the control group. The cost-benefit analysis and carbon footprint assessment indicate that introducing 75 % RCPs reduces costs and associated carbon emissions to achieve a unit strength than the conventional EGC with varying proportions of RCPs but without MWCNTs. These findings suggest that incorporating 75 % RCPs as fine aggregates is a financially viable and environmentally sustainable solution for MWCNT-EGC production.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/190986