Silico-manganese slag and its utilization into alkali-activated materials: a critical review

Abstract This review assesses the potential applications of alkali-activated silico-manganese slag (SiMnS). It covers three main sections: (i) the characteristics of SiMnS, (ii) its use as an alkali-activated precursor, and (iii) environmental perspectives. SiMnS shows promise as an alkali-activated material with diverse applications in civil construction. Future prospects include their use in heavy metal immobilization, understanding rheological behavior for effective admixture development, and utilization of one-part mix systems with alternative activators. Overall, the use of SiMnS as a precursor for alkali activation contributes to waste reduction and provides many environmental and economic benefits. Methods This study aims to review existing literature on the use of SiMnS in alkali-activated material. The R-code is commented by the authors and contains all steps necessary to create some of the figures presented in the manuscript. The R version used was 4.0.2. 1. Rcode.R 2. raw_data.xlsx 3. ternary_data.xlsx 4. IncludedPapers.bib Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the Federal University of Ouro Preto, and the agencies CAPES, CNPq, and FAPEMIG