Waste glass powder (WGP) has emerged as a sustainable geopolymer precursor that reduces industrial waste while enhancing the engineering performance of concrete. In the current study, the effect of WGP on the mechanical and durability properties of bacteria-enhanced geopolymer concrete using Exiguobacterium aurantiacum (MTCC-6414) was investigated. The fresh, mechanical, durability, and microstructural properties were studied for the geopolymer concrete mixtures with different proportions of GGBFS, fly ash, and WGP. Among all mixtures, the geopolymer concrete containing 50% GGBFS and 50% WGP exhibited the best overall performance. The compressive strength of 59.00 MPa and 73.75 MPa was obtained at 28 days and 90 days respectively with an increase of 118.5% and 92.8% over the control mixture. The respective split tensile strengths were 5.06 MPa at 28 days and 5.70 MPa at 90 days, which were increased by 42.5% and 38.7% respectively. The optimum mixture (GBCM7) exhibited a significantly lower rapid chloride permeability value (1493.1 C) compared to the control mixture GBCM0 (2450.5 C), representing a 39.1% reduction in total charge passed, indicating improved resistance to chloride ingress and water penetration. SEM, EDS and FTIR analyses confirmed the formation of a denser geopolymer matrix with improved reaction products attributed to the synergistic effects of reactive silica from WGP and bacterial mineralization.
