In this paper, an overview focusing on the bond behavior of recycled coarse aggregate concrete (RAC) with steel bar is carried out. The results show that the failure modes of RAC specimen were not only influenced by a single factor, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the influence of various factors on the failure modes of RAC specimen; The steel bar diameter, the concrete cover to diameter ratio and the replacement rate of RCA all affect the load-slip curve of RAC specimen; Bond strength predictive equations and bond-slip relationship models of RAC with steel bar has been summarized to ensure engineers to better understand their applicability; The influencing factors of the bond behavior of RAC specimens including the replacement rate of RCA, the concrete compressive strength, the steel bar type and steel bar diameter, the steel bar embedment length and the aggregate performance; The freeze-thaw cycles and the steel bar corrosion all affect the bond behavior of RAC with steel bar. When freeze-thaw damage and steel bars corrosion reach a certain degree, the bond behavior of RAC with steel bar deteriorates.

Crushing waste concrete and using it directly as RAs has the disadvantages of high porosity and high water absorption. To achieve the reuse of resources, the researchers use microbial mineralization methods to further reinforce RAs. In this paper, the effect of the microbial carbonic anhydrase mineralization method on the water absorption of RAs was investigated, and the macroscopic analysis was performed by determining the indexes of water absorption and apparent density of RAs before and after the modification, and the microscopic analysis of RAs by using the methods of SEM, XRD, DSC, and EDS as well. According to the microscopic analysis, the mineralization products of microorganisms are calcium carbonate crystals, and with the increase in microbial liquid concentration, the water absorption rate of RAs shows a trend of decreasing and then increasing, and it can be found through the microscopic morphology that abundant mineralization products attached to the surface of the aggregate lead to the surface of the aggregate becoming rougher and more porous. The method of soaking the RAs in 3% bacterial solution and 0.1 mol/L calcium acetate solution followed by carbonation with 20% CO₂ resulted in a 4.85% reduction in water absorption.

Bacteria-induced mineralization is a new technique to produce calcium carbonate in steel slag for the preparation of building materials. Calcium carbonate nanoparticles were precipitated as a result of the enzymatic activity of Bacillus mucilaginous subtilis in steel slag. The crystal structure and morphology of the calcium carbonate precipitate were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), while thermal properties were studied by thermogravimetric-differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) analysis. The experimental results showed that the microstructure of calcium carbonate precipitate induced by the reproductive enzymes of Bacillus mucilaginous differs from the chemical precipitation in simulated pore solution of steel slag. Powder XRD patterns confirmed the formation of Bacillus mucilaginous subtilis-induced calcium carbonate with an average particle size of 42.1 nm, while the average particle size of the chemically synthesized calcium carbonate was 59.3 nm. Compared with the chemical synthesis, we found that the decomposition temperature of calcite by bacterial precipitation was higher than that for the chemically-precipitated calcite. The compressive strength improved with the amount of bacterial content. Bacterial mineralization could accelerate the rate of carbon sequestration in the mineralization process. The content of calcium carbonate in microbial mineralized steel slag increased obviously. The compressive strength of steel slag mortar with 1.5% bacterial reached up to 51.5 MPa, the compressive strength increased over 50% compared with the carbonized steel slag mortar. The micron-size calcite by bacterial mineralization resulted in a more compact structure. Our study suggests that microbial mineralization technology is a good method to utilize steel slag for building materials.