Roadmap to a net-zero carbon cement sector: Strategies, innovations and policy imperatives.

The cement industry plays a significant role in global carbon emissions, underscoring the urgent need for measures to transition it toward a net-zero carbon footprint. This paper presents a detailed plan to this end, examining the current state of the cement sector, its carbon output, and the imperative for emission reduction. It delves into various low-CO technologies and emerging innovations such as alkali-activated cements, calcium looping, electrification, and bio-inspired materials.

Cement-based solidification of nuclear waste: Mechanisms, formulations and regulatory considerations.

This review paper provides a comprehensive analysis of cement-based solidification and immobilisation of nuclear waste. It covers various aspects including mechanisms, formulations, testing and regulatory considerations. The paper begins by emphasizing the importance of nuclear waste management and the associated challenges.

Comparative Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Beam Behaviour: Conventional Model vs. Artificial Neural Network Predictions.

This research aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the first crack load, flexural strength, and shear strength in reinforced concrete beams without stirrups. The comparison is made between the conventional model developed according to the current design code (ACI building code) and an unconventional approach using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). To accomplish this, a dataset comprising 110 samples of reinforced concrete beams without stirrup reinforcement was collected and utilised to train a Multilayer Backpropagation Neural Network in MATLAB.

Strength and Microstructure of Geopolymer Based on Fly Ash and Metakaolin.

The production of Portland cement is widely regarded as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. This contributes to 6-7% of total CO emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. As a result, several efforts have been made in recent decades to limit or eliminate the usage of Portland cement in concrete.

Characterisation of Asphalt Concrete Using Nanoindentation.

In this study, nanoindentation was conducted to extract the load-displacement behaviour and the nanomechanical properties of asphalt concrete across the mastic, matrix, and aggregate phases. Further, the performance of hydrated lime as an additive was assessed across the three phases. The hydrated lime containing samples have greater resistance to deformation in the mastic and matrix phases, in particular, the mastic.

Nanoscaled Mechanical Properties of Cement Composites Reinforced with Carbon Nanofibers.

This paper reports the effects of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) on nanoscaled mechanical properties of cement composites. CNFs were added to cement composites at the filler loading of 0.2 wt % (by wt.