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Minerals
Special Issues
Alkali-Activated Cements and Concretes, 2nd Edition
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Alkali-Activated Cements and Concretes, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Clays and Engineered Mineral Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2026 | Viewed by 787

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Elsabe Kearsley

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department Civil Engineering, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Road, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
Interests: cement; concrete; fly ash; environmental impact
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Concrete consisting of sand, stone, water and Portland cement is the most widely used material in the construction of modern infrastructure. Significant strides have been made in the recent past to reduce the impact of cement production by allowing for the inclusion of large volumes of cement extenders such as ground granulated blast furnace slag and fly ash. Many of the problems associated with the use of the limestone-based clicker as the primary component of the cement still need to be addressed.

The aim of this Special Issue on alkali activated cement and concrete is to share the current state of knowledge on reducing the environmental impact of the cement and concrete industry through the use of alkali activation. Articles will focus on aspects including activator types and dosages, waste materials that can be activated, factors affecting the properties of alkali-activated materials, benefits and consequences of using alkali-activated cement and concrete, durability (including acid and thermal resistance), comparing short and long term material properties and environmental impact to that of other building materials currently in use.

Prof. Dr. Elsabe Kearsley
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • alkali activation
  • fly ash
  • ground granulated blast furnace slag
  • geopolymer
  • acid resistant concrete
  • alkali activated cement
  • alkali activator
  • environmental impact
  • waste materials

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 1250 KB  
Article
A Study on Copper Mine Tailings to Be Used as Precursor of Alkali-Activated Materials for Construction Applications
by Luis Morales-Castro, Estefania Loyola, Matias Castro-Quijada, Felipe Vargas, Ivan Navarrete, Claudia Eugenin, Carlos Marquardt and Alvaro Videla
Minerals 2025, 15(9), 895; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15090895 - 23 Aug 2025
Viewed by 473
Abstract
This research presents a novel methodology to classify copper tailings according to their potential as alkali-activated materials (AAMs) for construction applications. The methodology includes geochemical and mineralogical characterization via QEMSCAN and X-ray fluorescence, with mechanical performance evaluation through compressive strength test (UCS). A [...] Read more.
This research presents a novel methodology to classify copper tailings according to their potential as alkali-activated materials (AAMs) for construction applications. The methodology includes geochemical and mineralogical characterization via QEMSCAN and X-ray fluorescence, with mechanical performance evaluation through compressive strength test (UCS). A three-phase diagram based on Al2O3, Fe2O3, and CaO-MgO-K2O is proposed for a fast screening of copper tailing potential to be used as a construction material. In this paper, three copper tailings were chosen to test the methodology, and a set of five samples for each tailing have been geopolymerized for testing. Copper tailing samples were mixed with 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10% by mass of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) to evaluate the effect on performance when a chemical co-activator is used to improve material reactivity. Compressive strength testing was applied on 2 cm3 cubes after 28 days of curing at 60 °C, yielding values from 6 to 26.1 MPa. The best performing sample featured a Si/Al ≅ 3 ratio and a mineralogy with significant presence of reactive species such as plagioclase and K-feldspar (≅42%). In contrast, high levels of Fe2O3 (≥12%), clay (≥7%), and pyrite (≥4%) were associated with reduced mechanical performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alkali-Activated Cements and Concretes, 2nd Edition)
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