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.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 114648 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Industrial Crops and Products |
Volume | 178 |
Early online date | 9 Feb 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was funded as part of the HP-CSB project, which has received funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council with the following reference: EP/S026487/1. The authors acknowledge Nanesa S.r.l for graphene material supply and Dr. C. Lehmann from TU Berlin for SEM assessments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
Keywords
- Alkali-activated materials
- Attapulgite nanoclay
- Graphene nanoplatelets
- Pre-treatment
- Surface functionalisation
- Wheat straw
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agronomy and Crop Science