Advanced Admixtures from Industrial Waste Products for Sustainable High-Performance Concrete
Interdisciplinary Areas: | Innovation and Making, Smart City, Infrastructure, Transportation, Power, Energy, and the Environment |
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Project Description
High-performance concrete (HPC) used for advanced infrastructure applications (bridges, dams, ultra-tall buildings) has 2-3 times the carbon footprint of conventional concrete mixtures due to the greater amount of cement required to achieve higher compressive strengths. Increasing the service life of HPC structures by including internal curing agents and other chemical admixtures is one proven way to reduce its carbon footprint. And chemical admixtures that are themselves more sustainable, including those derived from industrial waste or by-products, are expected to further reduce the overall carbon footprint of HPC. The goal of this project is to design and optimize a new class of recycled admixtures from environmental remediation efforts for the creation of more sustainable HPC, including reclaimed hydrogel and cellulosic particles. Lab-scale experiments and multiscale material characterization will be performed to identify key processing-structure-property relationships, including important HPC-admixture chemical and physical interactions and the internal curing performance of recycled admixtures after different preprocessing steps. Life cycle and technoeconomic assessments will be used to quantify overall environmental impacts.
Start Date
Summer or Fall 2024
Postdoc Qualifications
The ideal candidate for this position will have a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or a related field, and research experience with one or more of the following: cement-based materials, polymer science, industrial ecology, life cycle assessment, environmental remediation. Must demonstrate excellent communication skills in the form of published papers and conference presentations.
Co-Advisors
Kendra Erk
erk@purdue.edu
Associate Professor of Materials Engineering
https://soft-material-mechanics.squarespace.com/
John Sutherland
jwsuther@purdue.edu
Fehsenfeld Family Head of Ecological and Environmental Engineering
Short Bibliography
Biernacki JJ, Bullard JW, Sant G, Brown K, Glasser FP, Jones S, Ley T, Livingston R, Nicoleau L, Olek J, Sanchez F, Shahsavari R, Stutzman PE (2017) “Cements in the 21st century: Challenges, perspectives, and opportunities.” Journal of the American Chemical Society https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.14948
Schröfl C, Erk KA, Siriwatwechakul W, Wyrzykowski M, Snoeck D (2022) “Recent progress in superabsorbent polymers for concrete.” Cement and Concrete Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2021.106648
Scrivener KL, John VM, Gartner EM (2018) “Eco-efficient cements: Potential economically viable solutions for a low-CO2 cement-based materials industry.” Cement and Concrete Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2018.03.015
Fennell P, Driver J, Bataille C, Davis SJ (2022) “Going net zero for cement and steel.” Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00758-4
Wang G, Li F, Zhao F, Zhou L, Huang A, Wang L, Sutherland W (2022) “A product carbon footprint model for embodiment design based on macro-micro design features.” International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07557-7