Design and development of geopolymer composite bricks for eco-friendly construction

In this paper, geopolymer composite bricks were prepared using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste and the influence of PET amount, curing conditions, and durability were investigated, providing valuable insights for developing environmentally friendly building materials. Notably, there is a significant increase of 56% in compressive strength as the temperature rises from 30 °C to 70 °C. The presence of PET waste increases water absorption, which is positively correlated with thermal conductivity by 39%. Additionally, there is a negative correlation of 42% between water absorption and average compressive strength. The use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) reveals the presence of voids, fractures, and changes in the composition of the material at a microscopic level. Significantly, substituting PET waste ranging from 0 to 100% enhances thermal conductivity by up to 25%. The use of a clustering algorithm-based analysis highlights the relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties, of fundamental importance for improving geopolymer composite formulations. The results provide crucial information to predict and study the properties of geopolymer composite bricks, highlighting their ability to solve environmental issues in the building materials.