Sustainable utilisation of sugarcane bagasse ash as a supplementary cementitious material in concrete: a scientometric analysis and systematic review

The construction industry is increasingly exploring sustainable alternatives to Portland cement to reduce CO₂ emissions and environmental impacts. Sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA), an agro-industrial by-product from bagasse combustion, has gained attention as a potential supplementary cementitious material (SCM). This study presents a comprehensive assessment of SCBA utilization in concrete through scientometric and systematic review approaches. A total of 289 publications indexed from 2007 to 2025 in the Scopus database were analyzed using VOSviewer to identify publication trends, leading sources, keyword co-occurrence, influential authors and country-level contributions. Construction and Building Materials emerged as the leading journal with 34 articles, Bahurudeen A. as the most prolific author with 19 publications and 1411 citations, and India as the top contributing country with 156 publications. The systematic review examined the physical, chemical and pozzolanic characteristics of SCBA and its influence on the fresh, mechanical, durability and microstructural properties of concrete. Results indicate that 5–15% cement replacement with processed SCBA enhances strength and durability performance due to its pozzolanic reactivity and filler effect. Environmental and economic assessments demonstrate reductions in CO₂ emissions and production costs. Overall, SCBA shows strong potential as a sustainable SCM for eco-friendly construction, requiring further research on long-term performance.