Synthesis of sustainable green mortars containing AFBMT and GGBS under ambient conditions
European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, cilt.30, sa.1, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 30 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/19648189.2026.2637586
- Dergi Adı: European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, ICONDA Bibliographic, INSPEC
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Alkali-fused boron mine tailings, ground granulated blast furnace slag, ambient cured, embodied energy, embodied carbon dioxide emission
- Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study aims to produce a one-part geopolymer binder that gains strength at ambient temperature using alkali-fused boron mine tailings (AFBMT) and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). The raw boron mine tailings (RBMT) containing 8% and 12% of sodium hydroxide were subjected to the calcination process at 650 °C for 3 h to obtain the AFBMT. Sodium hydroxide content was arranged at the ratio of 8% and 12% Na2O of RBMT. Moreover, AFBMT was replaced with 30% and 50% GGBS to achieve the desired compressive strength values at ambient temperature. Setting times, flexural and compressive strengths, water absorption characteristics, drying shrinkage, and microstructures of the AFBMT mixtures were investigated. Additionally, the environmental impacts of the mortar mixtures prepared in this study were evaluated by calculating embodied energy, embodied carbon dioxide emissions, embodied energy and carbon dioxide emission indexes. The microstructure analyses revealed that the morphological property of the RBMT was completely altered after the calcination process. The binder with 50% replacement of the AFBMT calcined with 12% sodium hydroxide by GGBS achieved 35.3 MPa compressive strength at 56 days. C-S-H and C-(A)-S-H gels, which contribute to gaining the strength of the AFBMT-GGBS-based one-part geopolymers, were observed in the microstructures of the mortar mixtures. Finally, the optimum mortar mixtures in this study, based on both embodied energy and carbon dioxide emission index, were found to be 50AFBMT8-S50 and 50AFBMT12-S50 specimens, which have less negative impact on environment.