This perspective article delves into the transformative potential of alkali‐activated materials, acid‐activated materials, and geopolymers in mitigating climate change and market challenges. To harness the benefits of these materials, a comprehensive strategy is proposed. This strategy aims to integrate these materials into existing construction regulations, facilitate certification, and promote market access. Emphasizing research and innovation, the article advocates for, increased funding to refine the chemistry and production of these materials, prioritizing low‐cost alternatives and local waste materials. Collaboration between academia and industry is encouraged to expedite technological advances and broaden applications. This article also underscores the need to develop economic and business models emphasizing the long‐term benefits of these materials, including lower life‐cycle costs and reduced environmental impact. Incentivizing adoption through financial mechanisms like tax credits and subsidies is suggested. The strategy also includes scaling up production technology, fostering industrial collaboration for commercial viability, and developing global supply chains. Educational programs for professionals and regulators are recommended to enhance awareness and adoption. Additionally, comprehensive life‐cycle assessments are proposed to demonstrate environmental benefits. The strategy culminates in expanding the applications of these materials beyond construction, fostering international collaboration for knowledge sharing, and thus positioning these materials as essential for sustainable construction and climate change mitigation.

Alkali activation is studied as a potential technology to produce a group of high performance building materials from industrial residues such as metallurgical slag. Namely, slags containing aluminate and silicate form a useful solid material when activated by an alkaline solution. The alkali-activated (AA) slag-based materials are promising alternative products for civil engineering sector and industrial purposes. In the present study the locally available electric arc furnace steel slag (Slag A) and the ladle furnace basic slag (Slag R) from different metallurgical industries in Slovenia were selected for alkali activation because of promising amorphous Al/Si rich content. Different mixtures of selected precursors were prepared in the Slag A/Slag R ratios 1/0, 3/1, 1/1, 1/3 and 0/1 and further activated with potassium silicate using an activator to slag ratio of 1:2 in order to select the optimal composition with respect to their mechanical properties. Bending strength of investigated samples ranged between 4 and 18 MPa, whereas compressive strength varied between 30 and 60 MPa. The optimal mixture (Slag A/Slag R = 1/1) was further used to study strength development under the influence of different curing temperatures at room temperature (R.T.), and in a heat-chamber at 50, 70 and 90 °C, and the effects of curing time for 1, 3, 7 and 28 days was furthermore studied. The influence of curing time at room temperature on the mechanical strength at an early age was found to be nearly linear. Further, it was shown that specimens cured at 70 °C for 3 days attained almost identical (bending/compressive) strength to those cured at room temperature for 28 days. Additionally, microstructure evaluation of input materials and samples cured under different conditions was performed by means of XRD, FTIR, SEM and mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP).

Many standardised durability testing methods have been developed for Portland cement-based concretes, but require validation to determine whether they are also applicable to alkali-activated materials. To address this question, RILEM TC 247-DTA ‘Durability Testing of Alkali-Activated Materials’ carried out round robin testing of carbonation and chloride penetration test methods, applied to five different alkali-activated concretes based on fly ash, blast furnace slag or metakaolin. The methods appeared overall to demonstrate an intrinsic precision comparable to their precision when applied to conventional concretes. The ranking of test outcomes for pairs of concretes of similar binder chemistry was satisfactory, but rankings were not always reliable when comparing alkali-activated concretes based on different precursors. Accelerated carbonation testing gave similar results for fly ash-based and blast furnace slag-based alkali-activated concretes, whereas natural carbonation testing did not. Carbonation of concrete specimens was observed to have occurred already during curing, which has implications for extrapolation of carbonation testing results to longer service life periods. Accelerated chloride penetration testing according to NT BUILD 443 ranked the tested concretes consistently, while this was not the case for the rapid chloride migration test. Both of these chloride penetration testing methods exhibited comparatively low precision when applied to blast furnace slag-based concretes which are more resistant to chloride ingress than the other materials tested.