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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Carbon-Based Materials
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2024.1424177

Evaluating the Mechanical and Environmental Impact of PEF Plastic Waste Incorporated with Graphene Nano-Platelets in Concrete

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 University of Technology Petronas, Tronoh, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Norrbotten, Sweden
  • 3 Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    There has been a significant surge in the yearly use of plastics, leading to a notable rise.Consequently, the recycling of plastic garbage has emerged as a prominent concern around the world. This research explores the feasibility of using Polyethylene Furanoate (PEF) plastic waste as a substitute for coarse aggregate in concrete. The addition of Graphene Nano-platelets (GNPs) to the concrete mix was done with different quantities to improve its structural reliability. The research used an experimental research design in conducting its investigation. PEF waste plastic was added in concrete in varying proportions 0%, 5%, 15%, 20% and 25%, as a supplementary material to gravel and GNPs were added in different percentages 0%, 0.03%, 0.05%, 0.08% and 0.1% by weight of cement. Mechanical tests were conducted which includes compressive strength (CS), Split tensile strength (STS), Flexural strength (FS), Modulus of elasticity (MoE), Ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV) and environmental assessment of concrete was done by assessing carbon in concrete and concrete's eco efficiency (ESE). It was found that 5% addition of PEF as substitute to coarse aggregate (CA) and 0.1% of GNPs gives optimum strength enhancing CS, STS, FS by 9.10%, 18.18% and 4.45% respectively. Response Surface Technique (RSM) models were created to provide mathematical equations for predicting predicted outcomes. All models were optimized using a multi-objective optimization approach, and then validated.

    Keywords: Polyethylene Furanoate plastic waste, Graphene nano-platelets, Mechanical Properties, environmental assessment, Nano material

    Received: 27 Apr 2024; Accepted: 12 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Khan, Najeh, Almujibah, Al Zouabi and Benjeddou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Muhammad B. Khan, University of Technology Petronas, Tronoh, Malaysia
    Taoufik Najeh, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, 97187, Norrbotten, Sweden

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.