Newer Innovative Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure

Abstract: The requirement to build more sustainable infrastructures has become very
essential due to the expected increase in infrastructure projects around the world and its
impact on environment. This can be achieved by incorporation of newer innovative materials
in future infrastructure projects which is a very basic but highly impactful step towards
sustainability. To promote sustainability, not only materials from sustainable sources but
production methods and good practice during the design stage should wherever possible be
used. Disposing of industrial and hazardous wastes into environment poses a great threat to
mankind. Effective utilization of waste including hazardous nature can be subsumed
pragmatically by the construction industry as it will conserve dwindling resources and lead to
a step towards sustainability. Over the past decades, researchers have successfully applied
sustainability concepts for the major construction materials. The present study introduces new
innovative materials such as nanomaterials, along with the synergistic effects of their triple
hybrids, grounded vitrified clay pipe (GVCP), Lithium refinery residue (LRR), crumb rubber,
and Iron ore treatment (IOT) sludge that can be effectively used as a replacement matrix by
the concrete and construction industry, are less studied and lack research status at par with
major construction materials, despite having potential for contributing towards sustainable
infrastructure. In addition, it stresses the need for a shift in research ideology for
comprehensive waste utilization in construction. This review points out the enhancements
that these materials may offer to the construction industry regarding main challenges in the
future. Opportunities and limitations could guide researchers in the field to solve challenges,
provide directions for future studies, and optimize construction materials on the basis of their
applications.

Keywords: Nanomaterials, GVCP, LRR, IOT Sludge, Sustainability

1. Introduction
Sustainable construction is high on the agenda, especially regarding building materials. Using
of by-products or waste materials from other economic sectors as cement replacement
material in concrete production seems to be a more sustainable option than applying Ordinary
Portland cement Concrete (Teixeira E.R. et al. 2022). Moreover, Global warming which has
become a major problem of the world is caused by increasing greenhouse gas emissions
(Disci E. and Polat R. 2022; Jiang R. et. at. 2020). In this concise, Siddika et al. (2021)
recalled that the production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) generated 5–8% of the
global CO2 emissions. Industrial and agricultural by-products such as GGBFS, fly ash,
metakaolin, silica fume, rice husk ash, bagasse ash, palm oil fuel ash, lime stone powder and
many such wastes are being used as supplementary cementitious material in cement and
concrete. Main goal is to achieve the sustainability in all aspects and increase the
performance of concrete.

Recycling waste materials from different industries to produce green concrete would be a
proper solution due to their low cost and space-saving for landfill purposes (Negm A.A. et.
al. 2022). Many researchers have investigated the influence of mechanical and durability
properties, such as creep and shrinkage of using recycled waste as supplementary
cementitious materials (SCMs) for producing green concrete (Mohammadhosseini et al.,
2020; Mohammadhosseini et al., 2017). Geopolymer technology can offer a sustainable
solution by utilising industrial wastes and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases
(Neupan K. 2022). The possibility of preparing graphene-based materials from various
industrial and agricultural wastes could provide a promising sustainable solution for
industrialization while tackling environmental issues (Vieira O. et. al., 2022; Ikram R. et. al.
2020; Abbas A. et. al. 2018). Asim N. et. al. (2022) proposed some insights for researchers to
prepare green and sustainable graphene-based construction materials with improved
functionalities and properties. Furthermore, owing to the workability enhancement based on
the synergistic effects of the hybrids, the maximum capacity of nanomaterials for positively
reinforcing cement pastes increases compared with that of single nanomaterial reinforcements
(Liu H. et.al. 2018; Mowlaei R. et.al. 2021).

Therefore, a promising practice to achieve this goal is to generate recycled materials from the
industrial waste and then use them again to produce “green” construction materials. Green
concrete can be defined as the concrete, which has good performance, life cycle
sustainability, and its manufacturing process does not significantly affect the environment.
So, main goal is to achieve the sustainability in all aspects and increase the performance of
concrete.
 Materials

Nano- IOT Crumb

GVCP LRR
Materials Sludge Rubber

Fig. 1. New Innovative Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure

2. Materials

2.1 Nanomaterials

Nanomaterials have received great attention owing to their ability to control the cement
structure at the nanoscale (Senff L. et.al. 2012; Rashad M. 2013). The most popular
nanomaterials used for reinforcing cement pastes are graphene oxide (GO), carbon nanotube
(CNT), and nano-silica (nano-SiO2, NS) (Kim G. et.al. 2022).

Graphene as nano-additives improve important features, such as resistance to carbonation,

chlorides, and sulphates, and enhance the lifespan of concrete (Chintala pudi K. and Pannem
RMR. 2020; Chu H. et. al. 2020). The effect of graphene-based materials on the modification
of cement properties could be attributed to different effects, such as nucleation effect, filling
effect, interfacial bonding effect, toughening effect, and nanoscale reinforcing mechanisms
(Wu S. et.al. 2021; Lv S. 2016; Wang M. et.al. 2016; Sharma S. and Kothiyal N.C. 2016).
Nano-silica (nano-SiO2) in blended cement composite counter balance the negative effects of
SCMs (low initial compressive strength) and results into a high performance and sustainable
material (Das B.B. et.al 2020).

 Hybrids of Nanomaterials
GO and f-CNT hybrid-reinforced cement pastes displayed higher compressive and
tensile strength than the single nanomaterial-reinforced samples, suggesting a 3D
reinforcement model of interlocked GO and f-CNT (Kaur R. and Kothiyal N. 2019;
Du Y. 2020). The improved dispersity and increased mechanical strength of the
hybrids compared with those of single nanomaterials while maintaining the
advantages of each nanomaterial leads to a possibility of a triple hybrid, which can
 possess the advantages of the nucleation effect of Graphene oxide(GO), bridging
effect of Carbon Nano Tube (CNT), and pozzolanic activity of Nano Silica(NS),
along with their synergistic effects (Kim G. et al. 2022). Kim G. et al. (2022)
elucidated the synergistic effect of triple hybrids as nano-reinforcements on the
dispersion properties, hydration process, and mechanical performance of cement
composites, and to probe the strengthening mechanism by investigating their
correlations.

2.2 Grounded Vitrified Clay Pipe (GVCP)

From the recycling wastes, ceramic has different products such as walls, floor tiles, bricks,
roof tiles, ornamental ware, refractory products, sanitary ware, and vitrified clay pipes (VCP)
expanded clay aggregates (Ahmad et al., 2016). Few of many recycled wastes could be used
as SCMs and have a similar chemical composition to the kaolin family (Meta kaolin; MK),
such as ceramic, clay bricks (CB), and the innovative, grounded vitrified clay pipe (GVCP).
Nearly none of the recent studies investigated this innovative material. Negm A.A. et. al.
(2022) investigated the use of grounded vitrified clay pipe (GVCP) wastes in powder form to
replace cement in concrete partially. The microstructure analysis, XRD, and SEM showed the
influence of using GVCP in providing more CSH gels, which were responsible for increasing
the compressive strength later. Nevertheless, the optimum percentile of GVCP is 10% at low
cement content and 20% at high cement content, targeting normal and high-strength concrete.

2.3 Lithium Refinery Residue (LRR)

The escalating demand for lithium battery products in making electronic devices is producing
an enormous amount of lithium refinery residue (LRR) (Shaikh F.U.A. 2022). The current
lithium production process generates about 9–10 tons of LRR in the production of one ton of
lithium carbonate (Li B. et. al. 2019; He Z. et. al. 2018; He Z. 2017; Rahhal V. 2004). This
hazardous waste is not only an environmental threat but most importantly, its proper disposal
is very costly. Shaikh F.U.A. et. al. (2022) presents a comprehensive review of physio-
chemical properties of some common supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) and
their comparisons with LRR. The high cost of Li-ion battery can be reduced by using 10-20%
LRR as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in concrete to produce new low-
carbon concrete in an engineered way. The mineralogical composition of LRR shows high
amounts of the oxides of silicon, aluminum, and calcium which directed the material
scientists to use LRR as a partial replacement for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). The
reduction of cement as a binding material in concrete production reduces the carbon footprint,
health hazard, and construction cost. The use of LRR as SCM will start a new circular
economy (Shaikh F.U.A. 2022).

2.4 Iron Ore Treatment (IOT) Sludge

For the Institute of Technological Research of Brazil, the world reserve of iron in 2016 was
near 170 billion tons, during production of one ton of iron is generated near 400 kg of IOT
sludge (i.e., annually about 289 million tons of IOT sludge) with exceptionally low level
(5.4%) of utilization (IPT, 2019). Between the years 2000 and 2017, there were 36 cases of
IOT tailing dam failures in the world, an average of two per year, which caused significant
environmental damage. Mymrin V. et. al. (2022) developed new sustainable cement-less
concretes from hazardous iron ore treatment sludge in composites with production/demolition
debris and lime production waste with high mechanical and physical properties,
corresponding to the Brazilian norms. The physical–chemical processes of the materials’
structure formation included alkaline dissociation of solid particles’ surface, with sol
appearing and densification until transition to gel. Long-lasting gel compaction and
densification to stone-like condition made its structure similar to natural rock materials -
silica, opal, obsidian, perlite, pumice, amber, flask, etc. They can be used for production of
road bases, concrete blocks, and solid unburned bricks, among other sustainable construction
materials.

2.5 Crumb Rubber

The rapid development of the automotive industry has led to dramatic increase in discarded
tyre, which has created a major problem known as “black pollution. According to statistics,
the number of scrap tires worldwide has reached a staggering value. One billion tires are
estimated to be disposed each year, if the increasing rate of disposal stays constant by 2030
there will be 1.2 billion tires disposed (Global recycling, 2019; Thomas B.S. and Gupta R.S.,
2016). Crushing scrap tires and adding them as aggregates to SCC not only effectively
reduces the brittleness of ordinary SCC and improves the deformability but also provides an
environmentally friendly way to dispose of scrap tires and reduces black pollution, which is
conducive to environmental sustainability. In addition, SCC containing rubber aggregates
also shows good dynamic mechanical properties, making it widely used in airport runways,
highways and other fields (Hilal N.N., 2017; Elghazouli A.Y. et. al. 2018). Tian L. and Qiu
L.C. (2022) proposed an integrally hydrophobic self-compacting rubberized concrete
(HSCRC) mixed with crumb rubber (CR) and hydrophobic agent (HA), which shows
excellent deformability and hydrophobicity. Crumb rubber concrete (CRC) proved a
noticeable decrease in the concrete mass (i.e. density) if compared with the conventional
concrete (Paluri et al., 2020).

 Synergistic effect of Rubber tyre waste with other waste

Combining different recycled byproducts exhibited a synergistic effect in enhancing
concrete properties, which could not be attained with a single waste in the mixture.
(Khitab A. et al. 2022). Khitab A. et al. (2022) focuses the synergistic effect of two
industrial wastes, i.e. rubber tyres and demolished bricks as partial replacement for
sand and cement in concrete. To better explain the synergistic effect of combined
wastes on the physical, mechanical, and durability, waste crumb rubber for sand and
waste brick powder for cement were adopted in hybrid waste-modified green reactive
powder concrete in various mass ratio.

Table 2. Research on Concrete Characteristics after replacement in various matrix

Material Replacement Optimum Enhancement in Source
Matrix Content (%) Characteristics

Graphene Oxide Cement mortar 0.05% Increment of the Liu C. et al. 2022
(along with compressive
reinforcement of strength, flexural
steel fibres) strength, and
splitting tensile
strength of the
specimens by
20.1%, 29.5%,
and 26.2% after
28 days of curing.
Nano-Silica Cement paste 3% Compressive Snehal K. et al.
and mortar strength gain for 2022
CNS-3M mix was
observed to be
73%, 39%, 21%
and 14% at the
curing age of 3, 7,
28 and 56 days,
respectively in
comparison to
control mortar.
Triple hybrid of Cement paste 0.04% GO (with Enhancement Kim G. et al. 2022
Graphene Oxide 0.01% f-CNT and was observed to
(GO), 1% NS) be 133 % and 156
functionalized % for
Carbon compressive and
Nanotubes (f- tensile splitting
CNT), and Nano- strength
Silica (NS) compared to OPC
Grounded Cement mortar 10% for normal Higher resistance Negm A. A. et al.
Vitrified Clay Pipe and 20% for high to chloride 2022
(GVCP) concrete strength ingress of fewer
than 1000
coulombs even at
a high w/c ratio
of 0.64 and
higher
compressive
strength at later
ages as
confirmed by
XRD.
Lithium refinery Cement mortar (10–20) % Compressive and Shaikh F. U. A. et
residue (LRR) and paste flexural strengths al. 2022
of the 20% LRR
mortar sample
were
approximately
8% and 29%
higher than that
of the control
specimen at 720
days curing.
Iron Ore Cement mortar - Water absorption Mymrin V. et al.
Treatment (IOT) on the 28th day 2022
Sludge was between
6.07 and 11.62%
and axial
resistance varies
between
between1.31 and
3.94 MPa, on the
28th day of
curing.
Crumb Rubber Cement mortar - 10% replacement Khitab A. et al.
of waste crumb 2022
rubber for sand
and waste brick
powder for
cement increased
the initial
compressive
strength of
concrete by more
than 23.4% at 3
days.
3. Applications

1. The various applications of graphene-based materials have made them unique and
important in the construction industry. The incorporation of graphene-based materials
in building materials, such as cement, acoustic and thermal insulators, asphalt,
firefighting, PCMs, and anticorrosion materials, showed promising results.
2. Disposal wastes such as grounded vitrified clay pipes find their application as
supplementary cementitious material (SCMs) to provide pozzolanic concrete
production. Literatures have also shown that GVCPs can be used as clay aggregates in
addition to SCMs in concrete production.
3. New project in Australia expects to generate knowledge in the area of green concrete
by investigating the properties of Lithium refinery residue (LRR) and is going to
incorporate this residue as an alternative supplementary cementitious material in
concrete, which will provide significant environmental benefits in both a reduction in
lithium waste and reduction of CO2 emission of cement in high-performance green
concrete.
4. It was experimentally confirmed the possibility of iron ore treatment (IOT) sludge in
composites with concrete waste (CDD) and lime production waste (LPW) application
to produce sustainable road bases, concrete blocks and solid unburned bricks, among
other sustainable construction materials. In addition, it can used as a sustainable
reddish paint for construction pigment; for mortars and laying bricks production; for
Portland cement clinker; to improve resistance to sulfates attacks and as replacement
for fine aggregate in concrete.
5. SCC containing rubber aggregates after crushing scrap tires and adding them as
aggregates have shown good dynamic mechanical properties, making it widely used
in airport runways, highways and other fields.

4. Limitations & Future Aspects

1. More investigation on the preparation of various self-healing, self-cleaning, self-

adjusting, self-shaping, self-curing, and self-sensing building materials that utilize
graphene-based materials is necessary to reach sustainable development.
2. One important research direction could be understanding the interaction between
graphene-based materials with other construction materials and their interfacial
 interactions for the development of sustainable, multifunctional, and intelligent
construction materials.
3. Investigation on Ceramic waste such as GVCP as a partial replacement of cement
would provide anticipation of its behavior as nearly none of the recent studies
investigated this innovative material.
4. Extensive research is required to establish the durability (like RCPT, ASR, and
carbonation etc.) of LRR in order to call it a standard pozzolanic material. In addition,
the life cycle assessment of the LRR products is not available in the literatures.
5. Sufficient experimentation and analytical modeling on the nanoindentation are
required to understand the behavior of the hardness of the ITZ of LRR products.
6. To fully explore the possibility of using rubberized concrete another factor,
workability could be considered. In addition, if there is a lot of load going to be
subjected on the concrete mixture than it is not recommended to use the rubberized
concrete. Future endeavours can be made in this direction to overcome this limitation
of rubberized concrete.

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