From Agricultural Waste to Green Binder: Performance Optimization of Wheat Straw Ash in Sustainable Cement Mortars

Murat Doğruyol () and Senem Yılmaz Çetin
Additional contact information
Murat Doğruyol: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Siirt University, Siirt 56000, Türkiye
Senem Yılmaz Çetin: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dicle University, Diyarbakır 21100, Türkiye

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 19, 1-22

Abstract: This study investigates the use of wheat straw ash (WSA) as a sustainable supplementary cementitious material, focusing on its mechanical performance optimization and environmental implications. WSA (ASTM C618, Class F), produced via controlled calcination at 700 °C, was used to replace cement at 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10% by mass. The optimal performance was observed at 5% substitution, achieving a 90-day compressive strength of 48.42 MPa (+4.7%) and a 28-day flexural strength of 7.93 MPa (+6.6%). To contextualize these findings, a multi-technique analytical approach was employed, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). These methods confirmed that WSA enhances portlandite consumption through pozzolanic reactivity and improves matrix densification via secondary C-S-H gel formation. Additionally, satellite (Sentinel-5P) and ground-based measurements during a severe stubble fire event in Diyarbakir (20–24 June 2024) documented a fourfold increase in PM 10 concentrations (157 μg/m 3 compared to the June average of ≈35 μg/m 3 ), alongside 23% and 41% rises in NO 2 and SO 2 levels, respectively. These findings demonstrate that wheat straw ash utilization can mitigate agricultural waste burning, improve air quality, and reduce the carbon footprint of cement production. The study highlights WSA’s potential as a high-performance, eco-efficient construction material aligned with circular economy principles.

Keywords: wheat straw ash; pozzolanic activity; agro-waste; sustainability construction material; remote sensing; Google Earth Engine (GEE) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8960/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/19/8960/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:19:p:8960-:d:1767496

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().