Influence of Sugar Cane Straw Ash in Mechanical and Microstructural Characteristics of Alkali-Activated Materials Based on Red Clay Brick Waste
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 4
Abstract
The present paper aims to assess the feasibility of using two wastes, sugar cane straw ash (SCSA) and red clay brick waste (RCBW), in the production of a new sustainable binder for alkali-activated materials (AAM). The RCBW/SCSA mass proportions assessed were , , , , and . The activating solution was composed of NaOH and sodium silicate with a concentration of and a molar ratio of 1.3. Moreover, 5 wt.% of calcium hydroxide was added. Compressive strength, the volume of permeable pore space, water absorption of mortars, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of pastes were carried out in this study. Tests were carried out at 3, 7, and 28 days of curing at 25°C and 1 and 3 days at 65°C. Results showed that the mortars produced with RCBW/SCSA mass proportion of presented an increase of 50% in compressive strength compared to samples with only RCBW () after 28 days of curing at 25°C (39.2 and 26.2 MPa, respectively). Moreover, the presence of SCSA content increases pore refinement and reduces water absorption. Studies on pastes showed that the SCSA favored the formation of N-A-S-H gels with higher silicon content and denser microstructure than the sample with only RCBW. Therefore, it can be concluded that the SCSA can be employed with RCBW in AAM to improve its mechanical properties and generate a denser structure.
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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: chemical composition, SEM, compressive strength, water absorption and volume of permeable pore space, X-ray diffraction, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, EDS.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the scholarship (Process n°130733/2017-2) and for the research project (Process CNPq 402539/2016-8). Thanks are also extended to Scatolin (Ilha Solteira/SP) and Diatom Mineração Ltd. for the supplied materials. We thank Laboratório de Plasmas e Processos from Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, Brazil, for providing the analysis on the X-ray Diffractometer and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometers equipment. We thank Laboratório de Caracterização Físico-Química, from the Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço, Brazil, for providing the analysis on the thermogravimetric analysis equipment. We thank the Materials and Processes Department of the Mechanical Engineering Division of ITA for the SEM/EDS.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 4 • April 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Mar 7, 2022
Accepted: Aug 3, 2022
Published online: Jan 30, 2023
Published in print: Apr 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Jun 30, 2023
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