Carbonation of cement-based materials: Challenges and opportunities

•Carbonation kinetics of alternative binder materials requires further investigation.•Carbonation resistance of OPC is higher than that of alternative binder materials•Cement-based materials can be used as CO2 storage systems.•Recently developed carbonate binders are reviewed.

This article summarizes the existing knowledge regarding the carbonation of cement-based materials and identified the areas which require further investigations. Available studies regarding the carbonation test scenarios, influences of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) on carbonation resistance, and effects of carbonation on the properties of cement-based materials are reviewed here. In addition to ordinary portland cement (OPC) based materials, this article has reviewed the performances of sulfoaluminate belite and alkali activated materials (AAM) while subjected to carbonations. Some very recent topics such as the potential of CO2 storage in concrete and the newly developed carbonate binders are also discussed.