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Title: | Boosting Portland cement-free composite performance via alkali-activation and reinforcement with pre-treated functionalised wheat straw |
Authors: | Chougan, M Ghaffar, SH Sikora, P Mijowska, E Kukułka, W Stephan, D |
Keywords: | alkali-activated materials;wheat straw;attapulgite nanoclay;graphene nanoplatelets;pre-treatment;surface functionalisation |
Issue Date: | 9-Feb-2022 |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Citation: | Chougan, M., Ghaffar, S.H., Sikora, P., Mijowska, E., Kukułka, W. and Stephan, D. (2022) ‘Boosting Portland cement-free composite performance via alkali-activation and reinforcement with pre-treated functionalised wheat straw’, Industrial Crops and Products, 178, 114648, pp. 1 - 12. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.114648. |
Abstract: | Utilising wheat straw reinforced OPC-free composites in the construction industry requires efficient, eco-friendly pre-treatment coupled with surface functionalisation methods to turn it into a high-performance material. Herein, alkali-activated material (AAM) was used as an OPC-free matrix, while eco-friendly hybrid pre-treatment and surface functionalisations were applied to mitigate the surface quality deficiencies of wheat straw and improve its compatibility with low-carbon binders. Wheat straw particles were subjected to a mild physical pre-treatment (hot-water followed by steam) and surface functionalisation using attapulgite nanoclay and graphene nanoplatelets to improve their capacity as an effective reinforcing material in AAM. Comprehensive characterisation verified successful pre-treatment and surface functionalisation, which led to the improved interfacial bond between wheat straw and AAM. The best results were obtained for the AAM samples reinforced with pre-treated straw that was functionalised with attapulgite nanoclay (i.e., H+S-AT), in which the volume of permeable voids decreased by 18%, while compressive and flexural strength at 90 d increased by 41% and 27%, respectively, compared to the control sample. However, the effect on the thermal properties of the resulted composites was not significant. |
URI: | https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/24247 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2022.114648 |
ISSN: | 0926-6690 |
Other Identifiers: | 114648 |
Appears in Collections: | Dept of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Research Papers |
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