TY - JOUR
T1 - Application of COVID-19 single-use shredded nitrile gloves in structural concrete
T2 - Case study from Australia
AU - Kilmartin-Lynch, Shannon
AU - Roychand, Rajeev
AU - Saberian, Mohammad
AU - Li, Jie
AU - Zhang, Guomin
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the RMIT X-Ray Facility and RMIT Microscopy and Microanalysis Facility for providing training and access to the facilities. The authors would also like to acknowledge the generous support of the Lowitja Institute, Australia's national institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2022/3/15
Y1 - 2022/3/15
N2 - The use of single-use nitrile gloves has been on a sharp incline since the Coronavirus pandemic first started in late 2019. This led to a significant increase in the generation of this clinical waste that requires various recycling solutions to reduce its environmental impact from disposal or incineration. This paper explores its application in structural concrete by adding shredded nitrile gloves at 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3% of the volume of concrete. The compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and SEM-EDS analysis were undertaken to ascertain the effect of different concentrations of shredded nitrile gloves on the mechanical properties, quality of concrete, and its bond performance with the cement matrix. The results demonstrate that the inclusion of up to 0.2% of shredded nitrile gloves can provide ~22% improvement in the compressive strength of blended concrete composites at 28-days of curing. In comparison, the inclusion of 0.3% of shredded nitrile gloves shows improvements of ~20% in compressive strength at 28-days. The SEM-EDS analysis shows a very good bond formation between the nitrile rubber and the cement matrix with no gap identified in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ).
AB - The use of single-use nitrile gloves has been on a sharp incline since the Coronavirus pandemic first started in late 2019. This led to a significant increase in the generation of this clinical waste that requires various recycling solutions to reduce its environmental impact from disposal or incineration. This paper explores its application in structural concrete by adding shredded nitrile gloves at 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3% of the volume of concrete. The compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and SEM-EDS analysis were undertaken to ascertain the effect of different concentrations of shredded nitrile gloves on the mechanical properties, quality of concrete, and its bond performance with the cement matrix. The results demonstrate that the inclusion of up to 0.2% of shredded nitrile gloves can provide ~22% improvement in the compressive strength of blended concrete composites at 28-days of curing. In comparison, the inclusion of 0.3% of shredded nitrile gloves shows improvements of ~20% in compressive strength at 28-days. The SEM-EDS analysis shows a very good bond formation between the nitrile rubber and the cement matrix with no gap identified in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ).
KW - Concrete
KW - COVID-19
KW - Mechanical properties
KW - Nitrile rubber
KW - Pandemic
KW - Surgical gloves
KW - Waste management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118874533&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151423
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151423
M3 - Article
C2 - 34742992
AN - SCOPUS:85118874533
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 812
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 151423
ER -