Sustainable Ecological Non-Sintered Ceramsite (SENC) with Alkali Activators: Performance Regulation and Microstructure

Shoukai Chen, Jingfei Zhou, Yajing Bie (), Mengdie Zhao, Peidong Duan and Qingfeng Hu
Additional contact information
Shoukai Chen: School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Jingfei Zhou: School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Yajing Bie: School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Mengdie Zhao: School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Peidong Duan: School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Qingfeng Hu: School of Water Conservancy, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 15, 1-19

Abstract: The development of novel materials made from waste is one of the main measures to achieve sustainable materials development. In this study, ash of mushroom and corn straw (MCA) and furnace slag (FS) were used as raw materials to prepare alkali-activated biomass ash-slag material (AABS) and sustainable ecological non-sintered ceramsite (SENC). In this paper, the effects of quicklime powder (QL), NaOH, and sodium silicate solution (SS) on AABS were analyzed using single factor and orthogonal tests, and the preferred ratio of the composite alkali activator configuration was established. SENC was prepared based on the composite alkali activator, and the microstructure and phase composition of SENC were explored using XRD and SEM–EDS. The results showed that 3 wt% QL enhanced the early age compressive strength of AABS. The composite alkali activator was best configured when the additions of QL, NaOH, and SS were 3%, 2%, and 15%, respectively. At this configuration, the 28 d compressive strength of AABS was 47.4 MPa, and most of the internal pores were less than 0.4 μm; the 28 d numerical tube pressure of the SENC reached 12.2 MPa with a softening coefficient of 0.96. According to the results of XRD and SEM–EDS, SENC contained various hydration products such as C-A-S-H, calcium hemicarboaluminate, hydrotalcite, portlandite, and vaterite. The largest proportion of hydration products was C-A-S-H, which contributed to the pore refinement and structural densification. SENC has the potential to be used as coarse aggregate in sustainable lightweight concrete.

Keywords: comprehensive use of solid waste; alkali-activated slag; ash of mushroom and corn straw; non-sintered ceramsite; pore size distribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6634/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/15/6634/ (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:16:y:2024:i:15:p:6634-:d:1449078

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 ().