Abstract
Laboratory tests demonstrated that biochar filler added to portland cement stabilized peat results in an increase of unconfined compressive strength comparable with that of a sand filler. The strength increase is significantly higher when biochar is ground to a size below 75 μm. This study investigated the changes in mineralogy, texture, and microstructure during the early hydration of cement mixed with peat and biochar filler to identify the mechanisms responsible for the strength increase. The results show that the biochar surface catalyzes nucleation of hydration products. Labile carbon in biochar promotes carbonation, with precipitation of calcite within its cells and on its surface, as well as formation of hemi and monocarboaluminate, two stable calcium aluminate hydrate (AFm) phases. For larger fragments of biochar, early hydration products do not reach the inner cells. Instead, the fine fragments tend to be fully covered, leading to a more homogeneous spatial distribution of cement and voids.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank three anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments. This work used shared facilities at the Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth), a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), supported by NSF (ECCS 1542100).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 33 • Issue 10 • October 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 7, 2020
Accepted: Feb 10, 2021
Published online: Jul 21, 2021
Published in print: Oct 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Dec 21, 2021
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