Concrete/Glass Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) Synergies in Ternary Eco-Cement-Paste Mineralogy

The study described sought further understanding of the synergies in a mix of CDW pozzolans, containing (calcareous and siliceous) concrete and glass waste, used to prepare ternary eco-cement paste bearing 7% of the binary blend at concrete/glass ratios of 2:1 and 1:2. The mineralogical phases in the 2-day, 28-day, and 90-day cement matrices were identified and monitored using XRF, XRD-Rietveld, SEM-EDX, FT-IR, and NMR. The findings showed that changes in the reaction kinetics in the ternary blended pastes relative to OPC pastes depended on the nature of the recycled concrete and the glass content. Adding the binary mix bearing calcareous concrete (at a ratio of 2:1) favoured ettringite, portlandite, and amorphous phase formation, whilst the blends with siliceous concrete favoured C-S-H gel formation. Monocarboaluminate was detected in the 90-day siliceous concrete and glass pastes in amounts similar to those found in the reference OPC paste.