Abstract
This study was focused on developing concrete using alkali-activated copper slag (AACS) as a binder. The properties of alkali-activated copper slag concrete (AACSC) were compared with portland cement concrete (PCC). Different AACSC mixes were prepared with varying Na2O dosage (6% and 8% of the binder by weight) and curing methods. Hydration products in AACSC were retrieved using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) techniques. The test results indicate that the workability of AACSC was lesser than that of PCC. The AACSC mix with 6% Na2O dosage has exhibited similar mechanical properties as that of PCC. The mechanical properties of AACSC were higher than PCC when 8% of Na2O dosage was used. Heat curing was effective to upgrade the strength properties of AACSC at an early age of curing, but at a later age mechanical properties of ambient cured and heat-cured AACSC were comparable. The hydration products of AACSC were not identified in XRD patterns, whereas, in FTIR spectra of AACSC some alkali-activated reaction products were reflected. The AACSC mixes were found to be more sustainable than PCC. It has been concluded that AACSC can be produced similarly to that of PCC and ambient curing is sufficient.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Turner L K, Collins F G. Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2−e) emissions: A comparison between geopolymer and OPC cement concrete. Construction & Building Materials, 2013, 43: 125–130
Provis J L. Alkali-activated materials. Cement and Concrete Research, 2018, 114: 40–48
Purdon A. The action of alkalis on blast furnace slag. Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, 1940, 59(9): 191–202
Alberto F, Guerreiro M S. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Geneva: Springer, 2020
Singh J, Singh S P. Geopolymerization of solid waste of non-ferrous metallurgy—A review. Journal of Environmental Management, 2019, 251: 109571
United States Geological Survey. Commodity Statistics and Information. Virginia: National Minerals Information Centre, 2018
Dhir R K, Brito J D, Mangabhai R, Lye C Q. Sustainable Construction Materials: Copper Slag. Woodhead Publishing, 2017
Singh J, Singh S P. Evaluating the alkali-silica reaction in Alkali-Activated copper slag mortars. Construction & Building Materials, 2020, 253: 119189
Singh J, Singh S P. Synthesis of alkali-activated binder at ambient temperature using copper slag as precursor. Materials Letters, 2020, 262: 127169
Nazer A, Payá J, Borrachero M V, Monzó J. Use of ancient copper slags in Portland cement and alkali-activated cement matrices. Journal of Environmental Management, 2016, 167: 115–123
Singh J, Singh S P. Development of alkali-activated cementitious material using copper slag. Construction & Building Materials, 2019, 211: 73–79
IS 8112. Ordinary Portland Cement 43 Grade—Specifications. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standards, 2013
IS 383. Coarse and Fine Aggregates for Concrete—Specification. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standards, 2016
IS 10262. Concrete Mix Proportions—Guidelines. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standards, 2019
IS 1199. Methods of Sampling and Analysis of Concrete. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standards, 2004
IS 516. Methods of Tests for Strength of Concrete. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standard, 1959
IS 5816. Splitting Tensile Strength of Concrete—Method of Test. New Delhi: Bureau of Indian Standard, 1999
Talha Junaid M, Kayali O, Khennane A, Black J. A mix design procedure for low calcium alkali-activated fly ash-based concretes. Construction & Building Materials, 2015, 79: 301–310
Deb P S, Nath P, Sarker P K. The effects of ground granulated blastfurnace slag blending with fly ash and activator content on the workability and strength properties of geopolymer concrete cured at ambient temperature. Materials & Design, 2014, 62: 32–39
Nath P, Sarker P K. Effect of GGBFS on setting, workability and early strength properties of fly ash geopolymer concrete cured in ambient condition. Construction & Building Materials, 2014, 66: 163–171
Singh J, Singh J, Kaur M. Eco-friendly concrete using industrial waste copper slag. Ecology Environment and Conservation, 2016, 22(4): 1977–1981
Guo X, Shi H, Dick W A. Compressive strength and microstructural characteristics of class C fly ash geopolymer. Cement and Concrete Composites, 2010, 32(2): 142–147
ACI Committee 318. Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-99) and Commentary (ACI 318RM-99). Farmington Hills: American Concrete Institute, 1999
Rees C A, Provis J L, Lukey G C, van Deventer J S J. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared analysis of fly ash geopolymer gel ageing. Langmuir, 2007, 23(15): 8170–8179
Ghosh S N. Infrared spectra of some selected minerals, rocks and products. Journal of Materials Science, 1978, 13(9): 1877–1886
Fernández-Jiménez A, Palomo A. Mid-infrared spectroscopic studies of alkali-activated fly ash structure. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 2005, 86(1–3): 207–214
Hajimohammadi A, Provis J L, van Deventer J S J. Effect of alumina release rate on the mechanism of geopolymer gel formation. Chemistry of Materials, 2010, 22(18): 5199–5208
Pontikes Y, Machiels L, Onisei S, Pandelaers L, Geysen D, Jones P T, Blanpain B. Slags with a high Al and Fe content as precursors for inorganic polymers. Applied Clay Science, 2013, 73: 93–102
Onisei S, Douvalis A P, Malfliet A, Peys A, Pontikes Y. Inorganic polymers made of fayalite slag: On the microstructure and behavior of Fe. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 2018, 101(6): 2245–2257
Yaragal B, Chethan Kumar B, Jitin C. Durability studies on ferrochrome slag as coarse aggregate in sustainable alkali-activated slag/fly ash-based concretes. Sustainable Materials Technology, 2020, 23: e00137
Rajamane N P, Nataraja M C, Jeyalakshmi R, Nithiyanantham S. Greener durable concretes through geopolymerization of blast furnace slag. Materials Research Express, 2015, 2(5): 055502
Palankar N, Ravi Shankar A U, Mithun B M. Durability studies on eco-friendly concrete mixes incorporating steel slag as coarse aggregates. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2016, 129: 437–448
Kumar B C, Yaragal S C, Das B B. Ferrochrome ash—Its usage potential in alkali-activated slag mortars. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2020, 257: 120577
Mithun B M, Narasimhan M C. Performance of alkali-activated slag concrete mixes incorporating copper slag as fine aggregate. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2016, 112: 837–844
Sharma R, Khan R A. Sustainable use of copper slag in self-compacting concrete containing supplementary cementitious materials. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017, 151: 179–192
Supekar N. Utilisation of Copper Slag for Cement Manufacture. Sterlite Industries (I) Ltd, 2007, 1–15.
International Energy Agency (IEA). Global Energy & CO2 Status Report. 2019
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge financial assistance in the form of a fellowship to the first author from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, J., Singh, S.P. Utilization of alkali-activated copper slag as binder in concrete. Front. Struct. Civ. Eng. 15, 773–780 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-021-0722-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11709-021-0722-z