Chennai: The Indian Institute of Technology Mattress (IIT-M) said on Thursday its researchers are working with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US to develop a new framework for the widespread use of by-products in structural materials.

Industrial by-products are generated in large quantities around the world and are now going to waste. This will be an important step forward towards a sustainable future. The most important outcome expected from this research is the achievement of a paradigm shift in criteria for the selection of materials for the use of the use of agricultural and industrial by-products.

By successfully utilizing large quantities of otherwise undesirable materials, the next generation of sustainable and durable building materials can be designed. This new building material will be attractive due to lower cost and environmental impact than existing materials.

“Although there has been limited use of waste and by-products in structural materials such as concrete, this project aims to develop a new framework for the use of industrial by-products in alternative cement binders,” said Dr Piyush Chaunsali, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, said in a statement.

The researchers say, among other things, by-products such as biomass ash, coal ash, red mud and copper slag, which are produced in large quantities and are mostly underutilized due to their complex physico-chemical properties.

This project aims to address the growing challenge regarding the beneficial utilization of bulky industrial by-products generated in India. The construction of infrastructure provides potential sinks for this source material due to the enormous volume of use, including in roads, buildings and bridges.

“This SPARC project is about developing new, more sustainable cements and cement bands,” said Dr Elsa A Olivetti, Atlantic Richfield Associate Professor of Energy Studies, MIT.

“Cement concrete is one of the most widely used materials on the planet, so it has a huge environmental impact because we need so much of it and the processes we use to make it have a significant impact on the environment,” Olivetti said. added.

This research project combines the principles of materials chemistry, structural engineering and life cycle analysis to develop sustainable, durable, sustainable and economically viable cement binders based on industrial by-products in India.