Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667

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Construction and Building Materials

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Performance evaluation of alkali activated mortar containing high

volume of waste brick powder blended with ground granulated blast
furnace slag cured at ambient temperature
Chao-Lung Hwang a, Mitiku Damtie Yehualaw a, Duy-Hai Vo b, Trong-Phuoc Huynh c,⇑, Alessandro Largo d
a
Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, No. 43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Taipei 10607, Taiwan, ROC
b
Department of Civil and Construction Engineering, University of Education and Technology, The University of Danang, No. 48, Cao Thang Rd., Danang, Viet Nam
c
Department of Rural Technology, College of Rural Development, Can Tho University, Campus II, 3/2 Street, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City 900000, Viet Nam
d
Diagnostics and Civil Engineering Area, Advanced Material & Processes Consulting Division, CETMA-Technologies Design and Materials European Research Centre, 72100
Brindisi, Italy

h i g h l i g h t s

High volume of WBP and WCS were used as precursor and fine aggregate materials, respectively.

The performance of AABCM was studied by blending WBP with differing amounts of GGBFS.

AABCM was successfully developed under an ambient temperature curing.

The measured compressive strength of the AABCM ranged from 24 to 93 MPa.

The hardened samples of AABCM were found in good conditions.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Brick and ceramic wastes are becoming one of the most abundantly generated construction and demoli-
Received 2 April 2019 tion waste (CDWs). However, the practice of utilizing high volume brick and ceramic waste as a precursor
Received in revised form 22 June 2019 and fine aggregate materials in alkali-activated mortar has not yet been exhaustively studied. The main
Accepted 8 July 2019
purpose of this research was to analyze the possibility of recycling brick and ceramic wastes as a precur-
Available online 11 July 2019
sor and fine aggregate in high volume basis in the development of alkali-activated brick and ceramic mor-
tar (AABCM) under ambient temperature. In this respect, waste brick powder (WBP) and waste ceramic
Keywords:
sand (WCS) were used as a precursor and fine aggregate, respectively, and ground granulated blast fur-
Waste brick powder
Ground granulated blast furnace slag
nace slag (GGBFS) was used to replace WBP in a range of 0–50% at increments of 10% by volume. The
Waste ceramic sand AABCM samples were prepared and cured at an ambient temperature for 3, 7, 28, and 56 days: the com-
Alkali activation pressive strength measured in the range of 24–93 MPa and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) values were
Ambient temperature curing between 3112 and 4086 m/s indicating AABCM samples were in good condition; both showed improve-
ment when the proportion of GGBFS was increased. The results of this study reveal the strong potential of
using brick and ceramics as precursor and fine aggregate materials on a high-volume basis to produce
AABCM under ambient temperature conditions.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Brick and ceramic wastes are the second most abundant CDW
after concrete, and it constitutes 45% of the total amount of CDW
[1]. The generation of brick and ceramic waste is currently acceler-
ating globally owing to work undertaken to the renovation of older
buildings [1,2]. China produces over 1 million tons of waste
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: htphuoc@ctu.edu.vn (T.-P. Huynh).
ceramics [3] and 240 million ton of waste brick [4]. According to
the reports of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
[5], about 44 million tons of brick waste was generated from
between 2012 and 2014. These statistics indicate that there is a
huge global generation of brick and ceramic wastes, which are
mostly landfilled to legal and illegal land plots. This leads to a sig-
nificant challenge to get rid of regarding the landfill plots and its
environmental impact. The non-biodegradable nature of ceramic
waste would make the problem worse and long-lasting. On the
other hand, the demand for cement is increasing through time.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.07.062
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
658 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667
According to reports [6,7], there will be a 200% increase in the
demand for cement by the year 2050. This aggressive demand
shows a blatant disregard for sustainability, the process used to
manufacture it is widely considered to produce a large carbon foot-
print concerning greenhouse gas emissions [8–12]. For example, it
released 5–7% of CO2 into the atmosphere [13,14]. In addition to
the use of cement, fine aggregate is the basic ingredient used in
the production of mortar/ concrete. Natural sand has been used
as a fine aggregate in concrete/ mortar for a long time; however,
the sharp increase in the demand and mining of natural sand has
become environmentally unfriendly and highly energy demanding.
Hence, serious consideration needs to be given towards alternative
solutions replacing cement and fine aggregate.
In this respect, researchers are becoming interested in recycling
brick and ceramic wastes for use in mortar/concrete. The utiliza-
tion of bricks and ceramic waste in mortar/ concrete plays a signif-
icant role in reducing natural raw materials in cement and
aggregate, which directly reduces carbon footprint, energy
demand, and landfill plots [15]. According to previous findings,
they are can be employed in different engineering applications,
such as in landscaping and road construction [16], as an aggregate
in concrete/ mortar [17,18], as a raw material for cement manufac-
turing [19,20], as a supplementary cementitious material [21,22],
or as a precursor and or fine aggregate materials in the production
of alkali-activated paste and mortar [23–27].
Alkali activation is the reaction of solid waste aluminosilicate
materials under liquid alkaline environment at ambient or ele-
vated temperature. The main product of the alkali activation reac-
tion is a three-dimensional aluminosilicate gel structure consisting
of cross-linked AlO4 and SiO4 tetrahedra with shared oxygen atoms
[28–30]. The formation of alkali-activated gel is governed by parti-
cle size and shape, type, and concentration of the alkaline solution
and curing temperature [26,31,32]. The alkali activation reaction of
WBP is very slow with resulting lower/no strength development at
early ages due to its lower calcium content and crystalline nature.
Tuyan et al. [27] reported that AAM with WBP as sole starting
material didn’t show any sign of hardening for 7 days. A blend of
WBP with GGBFS reported improving compressive strength
[24,26]. Rakihmova et al. [26] replaced WBP by GGBFS from 0 to
100% with an increment of 20% and argued that WBP could replace
GGBFS up to 60%. As GGBFS is a high calcium-based aluminosilicate
material, it acts as a calcium source in the alkali activation system
and enables rapid strength development, which subsequently low-
ers the concentrations of the alkaline solution [26,33,34]. A sub-
stantial amount of Ca2+ is leached into the system in addition to
Si4+ and Al3+ ions during the alkali activation process. As a result,
calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) and calcium aluminate silicate
hydrate (CASH) gels form as a product of alkali activation of GGBFS
[35–37]. Hence, the alkali activation reaction of WBP and GGBFS
leads to the formation of NASH, CASH, and CSH gels, which subse-
quently form a stable 3-D network of aluminosilicates [36,38].
Table 1
Compressive strength performance of alkali activated paste and mortar made from waste brick.
Main binder Fine aggregate Activators
WBP NFA NaOH + Na2SiO3
(Na+ = 2.5–10, AM = 0.73–1.6)
WBP N/A (paste) NaOH + Na2SiO3
(AM = 3.2)
WBP NFA, WCS NaOH + Na2SiO3
(Na+ = 10, AM = 1.16–5)
WBP NFA NaOH + Na2SiO3/Na2CO3
(Na+ = 5, AM = 1.5)
WBP NFA NaOH + Na2SiO3
(Na+ = 4–10, AM = 0–2.2)
Note: Na+ = concentration of Na2O (%), AM = alkali modulus, NFA = natural fine aggregate.
However, alkali-activated mortar/concrete with higher inclusion
of GGBFS suffers from lower workability, higher drying shrinkage,
and higher production costs due to the higher demand for GGBFS
and its associated cost [26,39]. The mechanical performance of
alkali-activated paste and mortar made from brick wastes and
employing different alkaline concentrations and curing methods
is summarized in Table 1. However, it is understood that the acti-
vation of brick waste is more effective when higher concentrations
of activator solution are used together with elevated temperature
curing conditions, which consequently increases the cost of pro-
duction and energy demand. Furthermore, the use of the resulting
alkali activated mortar or concrete product is limited in precast
construction applications only [40].
The effect of WCS as partial replacement of natural sand in con-
ventional cement mortar and concrete was studied by different
researchers [17,41–43]. It was reported that WCS could be utilized
as fine aggregate material up to 50% by weight replacement of nat-
ural sand without compromising the mechanical performance of
mortar /concrete. Even though there is a huge generation of brick
and ceramic waste across the globe, there is a minimal effort to
find ways for comprehensive recycling and utilization of these
wastes. The started efforts to recycle brick and ceramic wastes as
precursor material for alkali activated paste and mortar are still
mostly environmentally unfriendly and energy demanding as they
use high concentration of alkaline solutions and high temperature
curing respectively. Some literature used GGBFS to partially
replace WBP for the development of alkali-activated paste under
ambient temperature curing condition. The authors of this study
have found limited research on AABCM that optimizes the blend
of WBP and GGBFS precursors with the application of WCS as fine
aggregate, which considered the utilization of the abundant brick
and ceramic waste together with the high demand and cost of
GGBFS. Thus, the objective of this study was to develop AABCM
using a high volume of WBP and WCS as a precursor and fine
aggregate materials, respectively under an ambient curing temper-
ature. The research aimed to solve the following existing problems:
(1) to recycle and utilize brick and ceramic wastes in high volume
basis, (2) to conserve environment and natural resources by reduc-
ing the production of cement and natural sand, and (3) to cut the
energy demand used for cement production, natural sand mining,
and high temperature curing of alkali activated materials.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Starting materials
In this study, WBP and GGBFS were used as starting materials:
WBP was produced by grinding brick waste collected from a CDW
debris site in Taipei, Taiwan, as shown in Fig. 1, and GGBFS was
collected from a steel factory in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Table 2
Compressive strength Curing condition Reference
Up to 50 MPa 65 °C for 3 and 7 days [23]
Up to 83 MPa Ambient temperature [24]
Up to 53 MPa 7 day at 65 °C [25]
Up to 138 MPa Up to 95 °C for 13 h [26]
Up to 36 MPa 5 day at 90 °C [27]
 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667 659

a) As received waste brick b) Granular waste brick c) Grinded WBP passing

from debris site crashed by rolls crasher #200 sieve
Fig. 1. Production of WBP.

Table 2
Physical and chemical properties of starting materials.

Materials WBP FA GGBFS

Physical properties Specific surface area (m2/g) 1.48 1.09 1.68
Mean particle size (lm) 10.32 14.61 8.80
Chemical compositions (wt%) SiO2 61.25 64.09 35.6
Al2O3 17.0 22.58 11.3
Fe2O3 1.67 4.55 0.5
CaO 11.34 1.00 41.0
MgO 1.62 0.66 6.5
SO3 0.24 0.23 0.9
K2O 3.3 1.46 0.3
Na2O 2.04 0.43 0.6
TiO2 0.96 – –

summarizes the physical and chemical properties of WBP, GGBFS,

and FA, (where FA is used only as a reference to characterize
WBP). The surface areas of WBP and GGBFS were measured as
1.48 and 1.68 m2/g, respectively, and the mean particle sizes
(d50) of WBP and GGBFS were 10.32 and 8.8 mm, respectively. The
sum of Al2O3 + Fe2O3 + SiO2 of WBP was 79.92%, which satisfied
the requirement of ASTM C618 [44] criteria for pozzolanic materi-
als. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) revealed that WBP was a low calcium-
based precursor, and its major constituent was SiO2, whereas
GGBFS was characterized by a higher CaO content. The precursors
were plotted on a ternary diagram of CaO-SiO2-Al2O3, and the fig-
ure revealed that compared to GGBFS, WBP had a closer chemical
properties to those of FA (Fig. 2). The particle size distribution of
the precursors was determined using a laser diffraction technique

Fig. 3. Particle size distribution of starting materials.

with a Mastersizer 2000 (Fig. 3). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was con-
ducted to study the mineralogical composition of precursors
(Fig. 4), and the results showed that WBP and FA contained quartz
(SiO2) as the major crystalline phase and GGBFS in an amorphous
phase. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study
the shapes of WBP, GGBFS, and FA powders, and WBP and GGBFS
were both found to be mostly angular and irregularly shaped while
FA was smooth and spherical (see Fig. 5).

2.2. Aggregate production and characterization

WCS is solely used as a fine aggregate material in the produc-

Fig. 2. Ternary diagram of starting materials. tion of AACM. After ceramic waste had been collected from the
660 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667
Fig. 4. X-ray diffraction patterns of starting materials.
debris site, a rolls crusher was used for crushing it until a granular
material with particle sizes of less than 4.75 mm was obtained
(Fig. 6). The particles of WCS were hard, and shapes were irregular
and highly angular; therefore, similar to manufactured sand. Fig. 7
shows the particle size distribution of WCS obtained using a sieve
analysis method. The fineness modulus (FM) and powder content
of WCS were determined as 2.98 and 7.5%, respectively. The den-
sity, specific gravity, and water absorption of WCS was determined
according to ASTM C128 [45]. The apparent density and specific
gravity of WCS were thus determined as 2444 kg/m3 and 2.45,
respectively, while water absorption was 2.22% (Table 3).
a) WBP
c) FA
Fig. 5. SEM micrographs of starting materials.
2.3. Mix proportions and sample preparation
Table 4 summarizes the mixture proportions of AABCM used. A
mixture of Na2SiO3 and 10 M NaOH solutions was used as an alka-
line activator liquid by employing commercially available pellets of
NaOH with 98% purity with a chemical composition of 23.5 wt%
Na2O and 76.5 wt% H2O and Na2SiO3 solution with a chemical com-
position of 8.26 wt% Na2O, 25.7 wt% SiO2, and 66.04 wt% H2O. The
sodium concentration (percentage of Na2O) and alkali modulus
(SiO2/Na2O) of alkaline solutions were fixed at 5.5% and 1.25,
respectively. Six mixture groups were designed with different pro-
portions of GGBFS and WBP. GGBFS replaced WBP up to a volume
of 50% in increments of 10%. The reference mix comprised 100%
WBP as a starting material and WCS as the fine aggregate. The
water-to-binder (w/b) and binder-to-sand ratios were fixed at 0.4
and 1:2.75, respectively. AABCM specimens were prepared in cubic
molds (50  50  50 mm), and a plastic film was used to cover the
prepared samples to protect them from evaporation. After 24 h, the
specimens were demolded and cured at ambient temperature
(25 °C) with relative humidity (RH) of 95%.
2.4. Test methods
The compressive strength of AABCM was tested after 3, 7, 28,
and 56 days of curing in accordance with ASTM C109 [46]; UPV,
which is an indirect test of durability and compressive strength,
used to study the properties of hardened concrete/mortar and eval-
uate the extent of any deterioration or cracking [47,48]. The UPV
test was conducted at 7, 28, and 56 days in accordance with ASTM
C597 [49]. The water absorption of AACM samples was tested in
accordance with ASTM C642 [50] at 7, 28, and 56 days, and the
porosity of AABCM samples was reported in accordance with the
method of Tuyan et al. [27] using the Archimedes principle (Equa-
tion (1)). Microstructure studies were conducted on broken pieces
b) GGBFS
 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667 661

a) As received waste ceramic b) WCS after grinded by rolls crasher

Fig. 6. Production of waste ceramic sand (WCS).

from each mix after 28 days of curing and being soaked in methyl
alcohol to stop hydration: the microstructure of AABCM samples
was studied using SEM coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spec-
troscopy (EDS) to study the relative abundance of chemical ele-
ments in AABCM using JEOL model JSM-9390LV. It is noted that
different areas on the surface of the AABCM were taken for EDS
analysis. For XRD and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR), AABCM samples were ground to obtain powder passing
through a #200 sieve. XRD analysis was used to identify the min-
eralogical phases of a hardened AABCM sample by employing a
BRUKER diffractometer model D2-PHASER with Cu-Ka and 2h of
10–60° and FTIR tests were conducted to identify the chemical
compounds present in AABCM samples using a DIGILAB FTS-3500
with a transmittance wavelength range of 400–4000 cm1.
 
Unit weight
Porosity ð%Þ ¼ 1   100
Apparent specific gravity  cw
ð1Þ

where cw is the density of water.

Fig. 7. Particle size distribution of WCS.

3. Results and discussion

Table 3
3.1. Compressive strength
Physical properties of WCS.

Properties WCS As previously discussed, NaOH and Na2SiO3 were used as the
Fineness modulus 2.98 alkaline activator solutions for this study. NaOH plays a critical role
Apparent density (kg/m3) 2444 in dissolving the Si4+ and Al3+ ions from raw starting materials and
Bulk density (kg/m3) 2369
in the subsequent alkali activation process [51], while Na2SiO3 is
Specific gravity 2.45
Water absorption (%) 2.22 responsible for releasing supplementary silicate ions into the sys-
Fine powder (%) 7.5 tem. WBP is a low calcium aluminosilicate material; thus, in the
alkali activation of WBP, the dissolved Si4+ and Al3+ ions highly par-
ticipate in the formation of sodium aluminate silicate hydrate gel

Table 4
The mixture proportion of AABCM.

Mix Code W/B Weight of materials (g)

WBP GGBFS Na2SiO3 NaOH Water WCS
WBP100 0.4 913 0 245 128 176 2511
WBP90 825 92 245 128 177 2520
WBP80 736 184 246 129 178 2529
WBP70 646 277 247 129 178 2539
WBP60 556 371 247 130 179 2548
WBP50 465 465 247 130 180 2557
662 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667

(NASH) through a reaction between WBP and activator solutions in

addition to Si4+ and Al3+ ions during the alkali activation process.
The compressive strength of AABCM was tested according to
ASTM C109 after 3, 7, 28, and 56 days of curing, and the compres-
sive strength results at various curing ages are shown in Fig. 8. The
WBP 100 mix did not set or harden after 24 h casting, which
showed that SiO2/Na2O was unable to activate AABCM made with
100% WBP at ambient temperature curing; therefore, WBP 100 is
not included in the results or the discussion of results in this study.
Rakhimova et al. [26] also reported that activation of 100% WBP
was not achieved at SiO2/Na2O of 1.5; however, Zawrah et al.
[24] succeeded at 3.2 SiO2/Na2O. Although WBP100 failed to
harden, the WBP90 mix successfully activated, which indicates
that WBP is compatible with GGBFS: at 56-day curing, compressive
strength of 24–93 MPa was recorded. In addition, regardless of cur-
ing age, the compressive strength of AABCM improved with an
increase in the GGBFS content, owing to its higher CaO content
[52]. For example, the compressive strength improved by 129–
786% with an increase in the GGBFS content from 10 to 50%, and
this effect is related to the chemical and mineralogical differences Fig. 9. Ultrasonic pulse velocity of AABCM samples at different curing ages.

between the WBP and GGBFS powders. As previously explained,

the higher CaO content in the GGBFS leads to a remarkably higher
in the range of 3112–4086 m/s, which indicated that they had
degree of cross-linked CSH and CASH gels formation, which ulti-
improved with respect to the increased curing age. According to
mately improves the mechanical strength of AABCM. In addition,
the suggested UPV ratings of Malhotra et al. [55], all AABCM sam-
the highly amorphous nature of GGBFS (Fig. 4) leads to a higher
ples, except the WBP90 samples, are considered to be good quality
degree of dissolution of GGBFS, which results in a cross-linked
mortars, because all UPV results are in the range of 3660–4575 m/s.
tetrahedral alkali activated gel. In contrast, the crystalline nature
The results show a significant improvement in UPV results in
of WBP prohibits the complete dissolution of particles in the alkali
accordance with an increase in the GGBFS content. As GGBFS is a
activation reaction; as a result, which results in a less densified
high calcium-based and amorphous aluminosilicate material, the
cross-linked gels.
alkali activation reaction produces a higher formation of CSH and
In addition to the reaction of precursors in the alkaline environ-
CASH gels [37]. The formation of gels consequently refines the
ment, the highly angular shape and hardness of WCS increases the
pores of hardened AABCM, which is essential for forming a com-
bond force between WCS and alkali activated brick paste (AABP),
pact morphology that will eventually improve the UPV and com-
which helps to a substantial improvement in the compressive
pressive strength and durability of mortars [56]. Furthermore,
strength of AABCM. This is supported by previous researches on
the angular nature of WCS allows it to wrap tightly with AABP, thus
manufactured sand [53,54]. Therefore, the use of WCS as fine
creating a good interfacial transition zone (ITZ), which leads to a
aggregate is responsible for the development of AABCM when
reduction in porosity and a denser structure that ultimately pro-
employing a high volume of WBP precursor and curing at an ambi-
vides good UPV results [57]. As expected, the UPV and compressive
ent temperature.
strength results showed a similar trend of enhancement: they
improved with an increase in the curing age and GGBFS content
3.2. Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) [58]. Linear regression was used to explore the relationship
between compressive strength and UPV values of AABCM
Fig. 9 shows the UPV results for AABCM samples at different (Fig. 10), and it was determined that UPV and compressive
curing ages. On day 56, the UPV values of AABCM were measured strength results have a close correlation, with an R2 value of
0.8516.

Fig. 8. Compressive strength development of AABCM samples at different curing

ages. Fig. 10. Linear regression of UPV with compressive strength and porosity.
 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667
Table 5
Water absorption and porosity of AABCM.
Mix codes Water absorption (%)
7-day 28-day
WBP90 8.91 8.08
WBP80 6.43 5.68
WBP70 5.27 4.82
WBP60 4.91 4.5
WBP50 4.76 4.36
3.3. Water absorption and porosity
Table 5 shows the amount of water absorption and the porosity
of AABCM at different curing ages. After 56 days of curing, water
absorption and porosity values were 3.98–7.78% and 8.38–
12.83%, respectively. As expected, water absorption and porosity
of AABCM samples showed a similar trend: they decreased with
an increase in the percentage content of GGBFS at all curing ages.
WBP90 samples showed the highest results with 7.78% and
12.83% water absorption and porosity, respectively, while WBP50
showed the lowest water absorption and porosity of 3.98% and
8.38%, respectively. Water absorption and porosity significantly
improved as the GGBFS content increased from 10 to 50% across
different curing ages. The higher amount of CaO in GGBFS plays a
critical role in the densification of alkali-activated gels, such as
CSH, along with the other cross-linked aluminosilicate gel matrix,
which has a remarkable impact on hardening AABCM [24,59]. As
previously explained, there was greater densification of cross-
linked alkali activated gels with an increase in the GGBFS content,
and as this occurred, a more compact and uniform mortar mor-
phology developed, which subsequently decreased the water
absorption and porosity of AABCM. The higher densification of
binding gels leads to greater pore refinement, and lower water
absorption and porosity are connected with higher compressive
strength and UPV [47]. In this study, the inclusion of more GGBFS
led to a reduction in water absorption and porosity but improved
the compressive strength and UPV. Linear regression was used to
analyze the relationship of UPV and porosity (Fig. 10), and the
result confirmed that UPV and porosity have a close correlation,
with an R2 value of 0.9488.
3.4. SEM and EDS analysis
Fig. 11 shows the SEM micrograph of selected AABCM samples
(WBP90, WBP70, and WBP50) cured for 28 days with EDS analysis.
The SEM images show that the morphologies of the AABCM sam-
ples differ in accordance with the various proportions of added
GGBFS. The micrographs of AABCM samples show a significant
morphology improvement with an increase in the content of
GGBFS. AABCM samples with lower GGBFS contents (WBP90) have
a large number of unreacted particles, which results in a heteroge-
neous and porous morphology. Differences in the morphologies
between the mixes with different proportions of GGBFS and WBP
are largely associated with variations in particles sizes, mineralog-
ical phases, and chemical compositions between the two alumi-
nosilicates. With an increase in the proportion of WBP, there is
an increase in the number of coarser particles in the mix with
respect to the larger particle sizes, which subsequently reduces
the dissolution of WBP in an alkaline environment. These undis-
solved particles are also exhibited in XRD and FTIR analyses, which
means that it does not fully react with the alkaline activator solu-
tion. In contrast, AABCM samples with a higher GGBFS content
(WBP50) have fewer unreacted particles, resulting in a more
homogenous and compact morphology, as the smaller particle size
663
Porosity (%)
56-day 7-day 28-day 56-day
7.78 15.3 13.78 12.83
5.24 11.81 10.86 10.24
4.41 10.44 9.74 9.19
4.09 9.68 9.06 8.63
3.98 9.25 8.73 8.38
and amorphous nature of GGBFS powder can be dissolved by the
alkali activation reaction. This result is also supported by EDS anal-
ysis (Fig. 11): as can be seen, the relative abundance of calcium
increases with an increase in the GGBFS content. WBP90 samples
have a negligible amount of calcium, but the amount gradually
increases in WBP70 and WBP50 samples. Hence, it is evident that
the inclusion of GGBFS in the mixes provides an additional source
of calcium, which can dominantly participate in the formation of
binding gels. The highest concentration of Ca ions are found in
AABCM samples with 50% GGBFS (WBP50), and these are subse-
quently involved in an alkali activation reaction to form CASH
and CSH gels that have a higher density. The hydration products
of high GGBFS AABCM mixes (CASH and CSH) have a higher ten-
dency to fill more spaces than the hydration products of high
WBP-based AABCM mixes (NASH) [36].
Hence, with a higher inclusion of GGBFS, AABCM is provided
with a sufficient amount of hydrated gel and a good space filling
effect, which refines pores and covers and binds unreacted parti-
cles together, and ultimately forms a uniform and denser morphol-
ogy [60]. The higher proportion of GGBFS in AABCM introduces
additional CaO into the system, which has a higher tendency to
be involved in the formation of densified CSH and CASH gels. This
enables the development of a uniform and compacted morphology,
which then supports the increased mechanical strength and
reduced porosity of AABCM samples.
3.5. XRD analysis
Fig. 12 shows the mineralogical composition of AABCM at a cur-
ing age of 28-days. The XRD result shows that the unreacted quartz
mineral (SiO2) remained as a major crystalline phase in all AABCM
samples following the alkali activation reaction [61]. It appeared at
(2h) with a main intense peak at 27.2° and minor peaks at 21.3°,
39.9°, and 50.71°; this result is in agreement with the XRD data
reported by Zawrah et al. [24]. It is noted that the quartz peaks
intensified with an increase in the WBP content, which indicates
that the number of unreacted particles increased when more
WBP was included. This relates to the crystalline nature of raw
WBP, and it consequentially affects the compressive strength and
porosity of the AABCM samples. This result is also supported by
the SEM and FTIR analyses. In contrast, the peaks of quartz were
reduced with a higher inclusion of GGBFS, as it significantly partic-
ipates in the formation of 3D amorphous aluminosilicate networks,
which are sites of alkali activation reactions that augment alkali
activated gels into the gel matrix and have a positive effect on
improving the compressive strength and porosity of AABCM.
Hence, new semi-crystalline phases that were not present in the
raw starting materials were identified after the alkaline activation
reaction with all proportions of added GGBFS. The alkali activation
of WBP and GGBFS precursors resulted in cross-linked amorphous
aluminosilicate gels.
The major mineralogical phases, which are highly responsible
for the development of mechanical strength of AABCM are found
to be CSH, CASH and NASH gels. The appearance of CSH and CASH
664 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667
Unreacted particles
Pores
a) WBP90
Pores
b) WBP70
Crack
c) WBP50
Fig. 11. SEM micrographs of selected AABCM cured for 28 days with EDS analysis.
gels can be judged by the characteristic peak of anorthite, while
NASH appeared on characteristic peak of albite [62–64]. According
to previous reports of [37,65], CSH and CASH gels are mainly
derived from the alkali activation reaction of high calcium-based
aluminosilicate GGBFS, whereas NASH gel results from the alkali
activation of low calcium-based WBP. The CSH gel was detected
at (2h) of 28.32°, 42.58°, 45.97°, and 55.17° while NASH and CASH
were found to coexist at 36.61° and 40.44° and denoted as N(C)
ASH.
3.6. FTIR analysis
Fig. 13 shows the infrared spectra of selected AABCM mixes
(WBP90, WBP70, and WBP50) at a curing age of 28 days (with main
bands marked). Unreacted particles, which were detected by SEM
and XRD analyses in this study, were also identified by FTIR anal-
ysis. All AABCM samples showed unreacted quartz particles, which
were obtained by judging the vibration of the Si-O-Si bond at wave
numbers 697, 668, and 460 cm1; this result is in good agreement
with the research findings of previous study [66]. The unreacted
particles showed a sharply intensified peak in the sample that
had the highest proportion of WBP (WBP90), which indicates an
incomplete activation reaction, and it resulted in a higher amount
of partially reacted and unreacted particles in the sample and
caused a reduction in mechanical strength. A similar finding is
reported in previous research work of Zhang et al. [67], which
was also confirmed by the compressive strength test conducted
in this study. The intensity of unreacted quartz peaks significantly
dropped with an increase in the GGBFS content. The inclusion of a
higher GGBFS content increased the amount of reactive high
calcium-based aluminosilicate powder into the system, which
highly promoted the formation of cross-linked hydration products.
The bending and vibration mode of the OAH group was sited on
an absorption band between 1630 and 1640 cm1, and the stretch-
ing and vibration modes of the H-OH group were traced between
3200 and 3600 cm1, with a rise in intensity at a higher inclusion
of GGBFS (owing to formation of the hydrated alkali activated
tetrahedral gels) [36]. The shoulder at 778 cm1 corresponded to
the bending of AlAOASi bonds (AlO4) [68]. The band between
950 and 1200 cm1 can be assigned to the stretching vibration
mode of SiAOAT (T: tetrahedral Si or Al), and the band was cen-
tered at 1018, 1028, and 1045 cm1 for WBP90, WBP70, and
WBP50 mixes, respectively. This specific frequency is characteristic
of silicon tetrahedra (SiO4) in the chain structure of CSH. Thus,
 C.-L. Hwang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 223 (2019) 657–667 665

precursor and fine aggregate. The following conclusions are made

according to the test results determined in this study:

AABCM was successfully developed using a high volume of WBP

and WCS as a precursor and fine aggregate, respectively. The
compressive strength was measured in the range of 24–
93 MPa. The AABCM’s strength improved with an increase in
the GGBFS content and curing age.

UPV values of AABCM were measured in the range of 3112–
4086 m/s. The UPV values increased with an increase in the cur-
ing age and with a higher proportion of GGBFS. As the results,
All AABCM mixes, except WBP90 mix, were categorized as good
quality mortars.

The water absorption and porosity levels of AABCM ranged from
3.98% to 7.78% and from 8.38% to 12.83%, respectively. They
showed a decreasing trend with higher inclusion of GGBFS.
The higher CaO content in the GGBFS played a critical role in
the densification of hydrated gels, which ultimately led to
greater pore refinement.

The morphology of AABCM samples showed a significant
improvement with an increase in the GGBFS content. The higher
inclusion of GGBFS facilitated the formation of densified CSH
Fig. 12. XRD patterns of AABCM samples cured for 28 days. and CASH gels that bind and cover the unreacted WBP and WCS.

In summary, this study further demonstrates the strong poten-

tial of using WBP and WCS on a high volume basis for the develop-
ment of AABCM through ambient temperature curing. WBP is
found to be highly compatible with GGBFS and has the potential
to replace it up to 80% by volume. While WCS found to be used
up to 100% volume as a fine aggregate material. This is highly
beneficial as it enables the recycling of abundantly generated
non-degradable ceramic waste.

Declaration of Competing Interest

None.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Hwang’s

research group at the National Taiwan University of Science and
Technology (NTUST) with conducting the experimental works nec-
essary for this study. The chemical tests were performed at
NTUST’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering with
valuable assistance from Ms. Pei-Hua Chen.
Fig. 13. Infrared spectra of selected AABCM samples cured for 28 days.

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is consistent with the previous report of Reig et al. [70].
4. Conclusion
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