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University of Dundee Feasibility of recovered toner powder as an integral pigment in concrete Newlands, Moray; Csetenyi, Laszlo; Zheng, Li Published in: Proceedings of the ICE - Construction Materials DOI: 10.1680/jcoma.18.00023 Publication date: 2019 Licence: CC BY Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in Discovery Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Newlands, M., Csetenyi, L., & Zheng, L. (2019). Feasibility of recovered toner powder as an integral pigment in concrete. Proceedings of the ICE - Construction Materials, 172(4), 201-212. https://doi.org/10.1680/jcoma.18.00023 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in Discovery Research Portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from Discovery Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain. • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 Cite this article Research Article Keywords: concrete technology & Newlands M, Csetenyi L and Zheng L (2019) Paper 1800023 manufacture/recycling & reuse of Feasibility of recovered toner powder as an integral pigment in concrete. Received 16/03/2018; materials/sustainability Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Construction Materials 172(4): 201–212, Accepted 01/11/2018; https://doi.org/10.1680/jcoma.18.00023 Published online 14/03/2019 Published with permission by the ICE under the CC-BY 4.0 license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Construction Materials Feasibility of recovered toner powder as an integral pigment in concrete Moray Newlands BEng, MSc, PhD Li Zheng BEng, MEng, PhD Senior Lecturer, Civil Engineering, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK Research Fellow, Concrete Technology Unit, University of Dundee, (corresponding author: [email protected]) Scotland, UK (Orcid:0000-0002-8166-0478) (Orcid:0000-0001-7546-4852) Laszlo Csetenyi BSc, MSc, PhD Research Fellow, Concrete Technology Unit, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK (Orcid:0000-0001-7869-8793) Colour is an important property in many construction materials with pigments, coatings and paints being used primarily for aesthetic, safety and restoration purposes. However, the use of integral pigments in materials such as mortar and concrete can significantly increase material costs. Recovered toner powder (RTP) from printer and photocopier cartridges has the potential to be a low-cost and sustainable alternative pigment. The aim of this research was to examine the feasibility of using cyan, yellow, magenta and black RTP to create a range of colour options for mortar and concrete, and thereafter assess the colour stability in outdoor, indoor, ultraviolet and wet/dry conditions using the colour change parameter ΔE. The work showed that the RTP as a pigment could be blended to make a range of primary and secondary colours and had good colour stability in all environments with minimal impact on selected properties of hardened concrete. Notation In terms of mortar and concrete, integral pigments such as a* red/green of specimen as measured by chroma meter carbon black (Concrete Society, 2002), natural oxides (Cornell b* yellow/blue of specimen as measured by chroma meter and Schwertmann, 2003) and synthetics such as phthalocya- C* saturation nine greens and blue (López et al., 2016a) are often used and h* hue these can be influenced by the chemistry of the cement matrix L* lightness of specimen as measured by chroma meter (Jang et al., 2014). Given the costs of the pigments required to ΔC* change in specimen colour saturation level influence the colour of cement-based materials, this can often ΔE00 change in perceived colour of specimen as measured result in a doubling of material costs compared with standard by CIEDE2000 colour change model ready-mix concrete. Due to these high costs related to pig- ΔE76 change in perceived colour of specimen as measured menting concrete, the competitiveness of integral pigments by CIE1976 colour change model compared with other means of producing coloured finishes in Δh* change in specimen colour hue architectural concrete is reduced. An alternative material being considered as a sustainable, 1. Introduction low-cost integral pigment for concrete and mortar is recovered Colour in construction materials is a property that is often taken toner powder (RTP). Toner cartridge sales in the EU were for granted and in many cases where colour is required it is often 120 million units in 2016–2017 (Etira, 2017) and with as much provided through applications of coatings and paints or as 8–10% of the toner left within spent cartridges, an estimated additional materials such as cladding. Although colour plays an 12 000 t of waste toner was produced in the EU during that important role in shaping the aesthetic qualities of structures, it period (K. Moock, private communication, 2018). Toner is often used in many other ways, including providing safety powder is a highly engineered fine particulate material, typically hazard warnings and lane separation on highways, cycle paths polymer based with various other compounds such as iron and pedestrian walkways (Vera-Villarroel et al., 2016), to oxide, amorphous silica and pigments. Being immiscible in enhance solar reflectance on buildings and roofs (Levinson et al., water and a potential dust hazard, RTP is classified as a special 2010) and matching materials with original substrates, par- waste by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and a ticularly in the repair of historically sensitive structures hazardous waste by the UK/EU (Sepa, 2018). The main disposal (Rodríguez-Gordillo et al., 2007). These are all areas where route is currently landfilling, which is extremely costly for special integral pigments within the construction material itself is the wastes, although some work has shown it to be beneficial as a preferred option. filler material in asphalt (Khedaywi, 2014; Popa et al., 2015). 201 Downloaded by [ UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE] on [08/07/19]. Published with permission by the ICE under the CC-BY license Construction Materials Feasibility of recovered toner powder as Volume 172 Issue CM4 an integral pigment in concrete Newlands, Csetenyi and Zheng The performance of integral pigments is not only judged by their impact on other concrete and mortar properties Cyan Magenta Yellow Black Purple Green Red such as workability, setting time, strength and durability, but also by their ability to provide a repeatable, perceptible change 5% in the colour of concrete surfaces (López et al., 2016b). Common pigments often require the use of a white cement (typically a CEM II/A-L) to provide noticeable changes in 10% colour and these have proven to be relatively stable in typical outdoor conditions (López et al., 2016a). To assess the likely performance of alternative pigments in comparison with tra- 20% ditional materials, colour measurement is crucial and a number of measurement systems exist. However, the L*a*b* CEM II/A-L colour space as defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), based on one channel for luminance (light- ness) (L*) and two colour channels (a* and b*), is still very popular and two colour-difference models (CIE1976 and Figure 1. Paste specimens produced for the colour development CIEDE2000) are used within the construction industry for study showing primary colours (cyan, magenta, yellow), secondary determining perception of differences (CIE, 2001, 2004; colours (purple, green, red), black, and control white (CEM II/A-L). Robertson, 1977). A full-colour version of this figure can be found on the ICE Virtual Library (www.icevirtuallibrary.com) Research at the University of Dundee has been conducted to examine the potential of using RTP as an integral pigment in concrete with particular emphasis on colour production and on L*a*b* compared with the control white cement. A series performance in various weathering environments. The work of cement/RTP combinations was then cast and three second- presented here focuses on the feasibility of using RTP blends ary colours were produced (green, red and purple). The range to create various colour combinations and the impact of of colours is shown in Figure 1. To produce the secondary environmental conditions, including ultraviolet (UV) exposure colours, RTP was blended in equal parts prior to mixing and wetting and drying, on the colour fastness of pigmented (green = cyan + yellow, purple = magenta + cyan, red = concrete. magenta + yellow). Three disc specimens were produced and tested for each colour combination. 2. Experimental programme 2.2 Weathering study A feasibility study was undertaken in three main parts to deter- Details of the five weathering environments (black-box control, mine whether RTP could be used as a sustainable durable outdoor exposure, wet/dry, UV exposure, indoor exposure) are pigment for concrete. The study focused on given in Table 1. 300 mm  300 mm  50 mm concrete speci- mens and 100 mm cubes (wetting and drying environment (a) a colour development study on cement pastes to only) were placed in different environments for a period of determine the ease with which primary and secondary 8 weeks to determine the effects of temperature, relative colours could be produced using RTP as a pigment humidity (RH), exposure to moisture and UV radiation. (b) a concrete weathering study to examine the likely Colour coordinates were measured pre-weathering, and at performance of the RTP (cyan, magenta, yellow and periods of 1, 4 and 8 weeks exposure.