| Abstract |
Abstract: This work focused on reusing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic waste from bottle labels
(BLWA) as lightweight aggregates in geopolymer mortar. This way of reusing plastic waste is
beneficial for diminishing the negative impacts of plastics on the environment and reducing CO2
emissions by using geopolymer as an alternative cementing material. BLWA was used to partially
substitute natural fine aggregate at ratios of 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% by volume. The geopolymer mortar
properties were tested, and the durability after exposure to elevated temperatures was also assessed.
It was found that the strengths were adversely affected by increasing BLWA content. The water
absorption and porosity were also increased with beneficial benefits on the reduced density (9–17%)
and thermal conductivity (28–44%). The geopolymer mortar containing 5–15% BLWA satisfied the
requirement of a lightweight mortar used in masonry work. After exposure to temperatures up to
600 ◦C, the properties of geopolymer mortar containing BLWA reduced more than that of the control
mortar due to the thermal degradation of BLWA at high temperatures. However, when increasing
the temperature from 600 ◦C to 900 ◦C, there was no further loss in strength. Microstructure analysis
indicated that increasing temperatures caused more increased voids and microcracks in geopolymer
mortars, especially the ones containing BLWA. However, after exposure at 900 ◦C, these voids and
cracks were minimized at 900 ◦C due to sintering effects. The findings in this work confirmed the
feasibility of using this PVC waste derived to produce lightweight construction material with thermal
insulation properties |
Publication
Journal Publication
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