Upcycling end-of-life bricks in high-performance one-part alkali-activated materials

One-part alkali-activated materials (AAMs) can preserve natural resources and lower embodied carbon of the built environment by accommodating various wastes, industrial by-products, and end-of-life materials in their composition. This study investigates the feasibility of using end-of-life bricks in two physical states, powder and aggregate, to partially replace fly ash precursor and natural aggregate in AAMs, respectively. The mechanical characteristics, microstructure, water absorption, freeze-thaw and fire resistance of the modified AAMs were evaluated. The effect of adding different ratios of nano graphite platelets was also investigated. Results showed that brick-based one-part AAMs can achieve mechanical properties, pore structure, water absorption and freeze-thaw resistance comparable to fly ash-based AAM while having 65% better fire resistivity. Incorporating bricks as aggregate resulted in a maximum improvement of 17% and 27% in the AAMs' compressive and flexural strength levels, respectively, and a general enhancement in the freeze-thaw resistance with showing no reduction in compressive strength after exposure to elevated temperature. Incorporating 0.1 wt% nano-graphite further enhanced flexural strength by 30%, decreased water absorption by 18% and improved freeze-thaw resistance compared to the mix without nano-graphite. Moreover, adding up to 0.5% nano-graphite enhanced the fire resistivity of the composite, allowing it to exhibit 19% better strength performance than before exposure.