In reinforced concrete (RC) constructions, the beam-column junctions are very sensitive to lateral and vertical loads. In the event of unforeseen earthquake and wind loads, this insufficient joint performance can lead to the failure of the entire structure. Cement industries emit a large amount of greenhouse gases during production, thus contributing to global warming. The nature of cement concrete is fragile. Cement output must be reduced in order to ensure environmental sustainability. Geopolymer concrete (GC), which is a green and low-carbon material, can be used in beam-column joints. M30 grade BBGC was developed and employed in the current study. Alkaline liquids are produced when sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide are mixed at room temperature. The alkaline liquid to fly ash ratio was fixed at 0.5, and the concentration of NaOH was fixed at 8 M. The mechanical properties of the Binary Blended Geopolymer concrete (BBGC), containing fly ash and GGBS, at proportions ranging from 0% to 100%, were investigated. This study was further expanded to examine the behavior of two groups of binary blended geopolymer concrete (BBGC) exterior beam-column joints, with cross sections of 230 mm × 120 mm and 170 mm × 120 mm. The column heights and lengths were both 600 mm under reverse cyclic loads in order to simulate earthquake conditions. The failure mechanism, ductility, energy absorption capacity, initial crack load, ultimate load carrying capacity, and structural performance was evaluated. The test findings showed that BBGC with 20% fly ash and 80% GGBS had the highest compressive strength and split tensile strength. When compared with other beam column joints, those containing 20% fly ash and 80% GGBS performed better under cyclic loading. The test findings imply that GGBS essentially enhances the joint performance of BBGC. The microstructural SEM and EDS studies revealed the reasons behind the improvement in strength of the GGBS fly ash-based Geopolymer concrete.

In recent years, the cement production has been growing very rapidly. It is the third-largest carbon emission source after petroleum products and land-use change. In this investigation, the concrete is substituted by Fly Ash and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) which has nearly a similar molecule size as concrete. In the development business, the utility of Fly Ash and GGBS has risen as of Geo-Polymer cements. In this experiment, the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is used as an alkaline activator of concentration 12M and the ratio between fly ash and alkaline is taken as 0.40 respectively. The specimens were oven cured at 80°C for 24 hrs. The compression test was carried out for various proportions of Fly Ash and GGBS and it is found that the mix proportion of Fly Ash 20% + GGBS 80% showed better results than other mix proportions.

Cement-based materials are increasingly and widely employed in infrastructure development; however, they pollute our environment by generating carbon dioxide, which is detrimental to our civilization. In self-cleaning concrete, photocatalysts accelerate the decomposition of organic particles; thus, photocatalytic degradation of gaseous pollutants could reduce pollution. The incorporation of photocatalytic components enhanced the mechanical self-cleaning properties of cement mortar. In this study, 46 percent by weight of rutile TiO₂ was added to mortar, and the results were compared to those of a control sample. On the proposed mortar cubes, both fresh mortar and hardening mortar experiments were conducted. Because the initial and final setting times of TiO₂ differ from those of conventional cement mortar, the surplus TiO₂water-cement ratio had to be modified. The adaptability of the sol-gel method enables the use of various process parameters to influence the properties of the produced TiO₂ nanoparticles. The compressive strength was calculated for 7, 14, 21, and 28days, and an ultrasonic velocity test was performed after 28days. On mortar samples, acid and sulfate attack experiments were performed. The M-3 mortar mixture containing 5 rutile exhibited the highest level of strength compared to the other mixtures. The M-3 exhibits a strength that is 10.96 greater than that of the control mix. The impact of acid and sulfate attack on the strength of mix M-2 is relatively modest in comparison to other mixtures. Using RhB (rhodamine color) discoloration under UV light, such as sunlight, the photocatalytic mortar is concentrated; a typical test for self-cleaning cementitious materials reveals the presence of more photocatalytic material, which yields the best results.

Fly ash particles consist of silica, alumina, oxides of iron, oxides of calcium, oxides of magnesium and toxic heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cobalt and copper. In this research, an adopted new experimental method was found to be innovative and worked better to treat the textile effluent, a treatment in which the fly ash was effectively used as a colour adsorbent. The sludge – that is the colour adsorbed fly ash (CAF) – was then used in the preparation of the concrete by partially replacing the cement. The major advantage of using packed column set-up method with fly ash as an adsorbent is that one waste material (the fly ash) is used to treat another waste material (textile-processed effluent). CAF concrete and CAF reinforced cement concrete (RCC) beams with polypropylene fibres (CPPST) are studied and analysed in this work. The ultimate load-bearing capacity, ductility, energy absorption and toughness characteristics of RCC beams are quantified. With the addition of fibres, energy absorption and ductility characteristics are improved for RCC beams and hence, this system can be adopted in high seismic zone areas.

Storing of cold energy is a predominant area in the cold thermal energy storage system in which the PCM plays a major role in hosting this energy storage process. This study fetches an encyclopedic review based on the current and erstwhile research in the field of cold energy storage using PCM. This dissertation provides an expansive view of the PCM solidification with the methodology of reducing the sub-cooling with the ramping up of heat flow rate besides of variegated nano-particulate and with protrusions. The effect of the fill volume of PCM in solidification is also delineated and how the size and material of PCM containment plays a role in solidification is also scrutinized and eventually, the application area of PCM cold storage is also explored.