Using of borosilicate glass waste as a cement additive

• Borosilicate glass waste used as cement additive can improves its radiation shielding.
• When content is 14.8%, the linear attenuation coefficient is 0.2457 cm−1 after 28 d.
• From 0 to 22.2%, linear attenuation coefficient firstly increase and then decrease.

Borosilicate glass waste is investigated as a cement additive in this paper to improve the properties of cement and concrete, such as setting time, compressive strength and radiation shielding. The results demonstrate that borosilicate glass is an effective additive, which not only improves the radiation shielding properties of cement paste, but also shows the irradiation effect on the mechanical and optical properties: borosilicate glass can increase the compressive strength and at the same time it makes a minor impact on the setting time and main mineralogical compositions of hydrated cement mixtures; and when the natural river sand in the mortar is replaced by borosilicate glass sand (in amounts from 0% to 22.2%), the compressive strength and the linear attenuation coefficient firstly increase and then decrease. When the glass waste content is 14.8%, the compressive strength is 43.2 MPa after 28 d and the linear attenuation coefficient is 0.2457 cm−1 after 28 d, which is beneficial for the preparation of radiation shielding concrete with high performances.