Sustainable development of durable and novel nano GGBS impregnated eco-friendly green concrete using micro structural characterization and techno-economic sustainability analysis

Utilization of sustainable materials in the construction industry is indispensable for mitigating environmental impacts such as carbon footprint, overexploitation of resources, ecosystem quality damage, etc. Thus, the current study first time introduced the combination of micro and nano GGBS impregnated sustainable concrete. Due to the nucleation effect, pozzolanic effect and pore filling effect, the optimum usage of 1 % nano GGBS along with 60 % micro GGBS caused 38 % and 15% improvement in the 28-day compressive strength than the control and micro GGBS concrete. Beyond that, the 2% and 3% inclusion of nano GGBS particles produced an agglomeration effect due to which the compressive strength of concrete was reduced by 13% and 28% than the 1 % nano GGBS concrete. Also, the nano GGBS concrete showed excellent performance in terms of providing 45 %, 55 %, 70 % and 40% reduced weight change and 71 %, 41 %, 43 % and 21 % improved strength recovery in acid, chloride, sulphate and water medium than the control concrete during 90 days immersion. Additionally, the sorptivity index of nano GGBS concrete was 64 % and 31 % less than the conventional and micro GGBS concrete owing to the reduced capillary pores in concrete microstructure. Moreover, the insertion of 1 % nano GGBS in sustainable concrete showed a 37.7 % reduction in the total cost and 1.55 times decreased CO2 emissions than the conventional concrete which will lead to the promotion of cost-effective, durable and eco-friendlier construction.