Research Progress and Trend Analysis of Solid Waste Resource Utilization in Geopolymer Concrete
Jun Wang, Lin Zhu, D. Wan, Yi Xue
Abstract
With the global concept of sustainable development gaining widespread acceptance, the resource utilization of solid waste has become an important research direction in the field of building materials. Geopolymer concrete (GPC), especially solid waste-based geopolymer concrete (SWGPC) prepared using various industrial solid wastes as precursors, has gradually become a frontier in green building material research due to its low carbon footprint, high strength, and excellent durability. However, the rapid expansion of literature calls for a systematic review to quantify the knowledge structure, evolution, and emerging trends in this field. Based on two thousand and thirty-nine (2039) relevant articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection database between 2008 and 2025, this study employs bibliometric methods and visualization tools such as VOSviewer and CiteSpace to systematically construct a knowledge map of this field. The research comprehensively reveals the developmental trajectory, research hotspots, and frontier dynamics of SWGPC from multiple dimensions, including publication trends, geographical and institutional distribution, mainstream journals, keyword clustering, and burst word analysis. The results indicate that the field has entered a rapid development stage since 2016, with research hotspots focusing on the synergistic utilization of multi-source solid waste, optimization of alkali-activation systems, enhancement of concrete durability, and environmental impact assessment. In recent years, the introduction of emerging technologies such as machine learning, 3D printing, and nano-modification has been driving a paradigm shift in research. This systematic analysis not only clarifies research development trends but also provides a theoretical basis and decision-making support for future interdisciplinary integration and engineering practice transformation.