Waste and recycled materials and their impact on the mechanical properties of Construction Materials

Abstract

In a world increasingly fixated on the demands of sustainable development, too much attention has been focused on the widely used building materials, mainly on those tools and strategies for their reuse and those characteristics for considering them as environmental-friendly materials. Among the strategies are the following: (a) increased reliability on waste and recycled materials—such action will have to incorporate the substitution of recycled for virgin materials; (b) improved durability through reduction of materials needed for their replacement; and (c) improved mechanical properties, which reduces the use of raw materials. Extensive research and development activities in recycling composite materials have been conducted, and various technologies have been developed: (a) mechanical recycling, (b) thermal recycling, and (c) chemical recycling. However, gamma radiation is an innovative and clean technology, alternative to conventional recycling procedures. Gamma irradiation has proved to be an adequate tool for modifications of the physicochemical properties of polymers, through different effects: (a) scission, branching as well as cross-linking of polymer chains and (b) oxidative degradation. Moreover, the reuse and recycling of waste materials and the use of gamma radiation are useful tools for improving the mechanical properties of concrete. In this chapter, we show results of the effects of gamma irradiation on the physicochemical properties of waste and recycled materials and their reuse to enhance the properties of construction composite materials.