Title: Irradiated recycled plastic as a concrete additive for improved chemo-mechanical properties and lower carbon footprint

Abstract

Concrete production contributes heavily to greenhouse gas emissions, thus a need exists for the development of durable and sustainable concrete with a lower carbon footprint. This can be achieved when cement is partially replaced with another material, such as waste plastic, though normally with a tradeoff in compressive strength. This study discusses progress toward a high/medium strength concrete with a dense, cementitious matrix that contains an irradiated plastic additive, recovering the compressive strength while displacing concrete with waste materials to reduce greenhouse gas generation. Compressive strength tests showed that the addition of high dose (100 kGy) irradiated plastic in multiple concretes resulted in increased compressive strength as compared to samples containing regular, nonirradiated plastic. This suggests that irradiating plastic at a high dose is a viable potential solution for regaining some of the strength that is lost when plastic is added to cement paste. X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Backscattered Electron Microscopy (BSE), and X-ray microtomography explain the mechanisms for strength retention when using irradiated plastic as a filler for cement paste. By partially replacing Portland cement with a recycled waste plastic, this design may have a potential to contribute to reduced carbon emissions when scaled to the level of mass concretemore » production.« less

Authors:

Schaefer, Carolyn E. ^[1]; Kupwade-Patil, Kunal ^[1]; Ortega, Michael ^[1]; Soriano, Carmen ^[2]; Buyukozturk, Oral ^[1]; White, Anne E. ^[1]; Short, Michael P. ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
2. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Publication Date:

2017-10-09

Research Org.:

Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1481413

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1549365

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Waste Management

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 71; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0956-053X

Publisher:

International Waste Working Group

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

42 ENGINEERING; Irradiated plastic; Additives; Cement paste; Microstructure; Pore structure