Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Articles Article Faculty Publications -Articles Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Assessing performance of alkali-activated bricks incorporated with processed surgical masks Subject The topic of the resource Alkali-activated; Bricks; Durability; Strength; Surgical masks Description An account of the resource Since last few years the world is facing tremendous surge in the use of surgical masks due to the COVID19 pandemic. The uncontrolled disposal of surgical masks in the environment will pose serious threat to the living organisms due to plastic pollution. On the other hand, the construction industry is hugely dependent on natural resources, leading to increase in carbon footprint. Therefore, it necessary to investigate novel construction materials with sustainability perspective. In present study, alkali-activated bricks were synthesized with rice husk ash (RHA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), sand, and sodium silicate (SS). To this, processed surgical masks (PSM) were added in varying doses of 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4% by volume of the mix. The results revealed that addition of PSM significantly improved the strength properties of the bricks with a maximum compressive strength of 6.85 MPa at inclusion of 4% PSM. At the same time, it has reduced the density of bricks with a minimum value of 1.54 g/cm3 at inclusion of 4% PSM. The incorporation of PSM has slightly increased the water absorption and porosity of the bricks, with a maximum increase of 4.76% and 7.75% for bricks with 4% PSM, when compared to bricks with 0% PSM, respectively. The accelerated ageing test showed that after three cycles of wetting and drying the bricks exhibited loss in compressive strength in the range of 55.2%58.6%. The microstructure results revealed the bridging effect of fibrous mask particles in improving the load transfer in polymer matrix, and thereby reducing the brittle tensile failure in bricks. The pushover analysis showed the benefit of PSM in improving the performance of the infill walls due to improvement in brick strength and reduction in its self-weight, and therefore, it can be considered as a potential material for use in construction of buildings in seismically vulnerable areas. 2023 The Author(s) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Thoudam K.; Hossiney N.; Lakshmish Kumar S.; Alex J.; Bhalkikar A.; Fathima A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Journal of Materials Research and Technology, Vol-25, pp. 6432-6445. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Elsevier Editora Ltda Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2023-01-01 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.07.095" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.07.095</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85165955449&amp;doi=10.1016%2Fj.jmrt.2023.07.095&amp;partnerID=40&amp;md5=85e666e00099e7b37479ac8290d1738f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85165955449&amp;doi=10.1016%2fj.jmrt.2023.07.095&amp;partnerID=40&amp;md5=85e666e00099e7b37479ac8290d1738f</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Open Access; Gold Open Access Relation A related resource ISSN: 22387854 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Online Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Article Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Thoudam K., Department of Civil Engineering, Christ University, Bangalore, 560074, India; Hossiney N., Department of Civil Engineering, Christ University, Bangalore, 560074, India; Lakshmish Kumar S., Department of Civil Engineering, Christ University, Bangalore, 560074, India; Alex J., Department of Civil Engineering, Christ University, Bangalore, 560074, India; Bhalkikar A., Department of Civil Engineering, Christ University, Bangalore, 560074, India; Fathima A., Department of Civil Engineering, Christ University, Bangalore, 560074, India