Alkali-activated Rice Husk Ash-Foamed Concrete: Correlation between Microporous Structure, Hydration Characteristics and Hardening Properties

Alkali-activated Rice Husk Ash-Foamed Concrete: Correlation between Microporous Structure, Hydration Characteristics and Hardening Properties | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Alkali-activated Rice Husk Ash-Foamed Concrete: Correlation between Microporous Structure, Hydration Characteristics and Hardening Properties Ying-hua Bai, Yuan-liang Xie, Yu Chen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4281925/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Solid waste recycling plays a crucial role in environmental protection and energy conservation. This study explores the utilization of rice husk ash as an auxiliary binding material in the production of alkali-activated foamed concrete. The impact of the modulus of the alkaline activator on the dry density, water absorption rate, thermal conductivity, electromagnetic wave absorption, and compressive and flexural strength of rice husk ash-foamed concrete was investigated. Additionally, the foamed concrete's micro-pore structure and hydration characteristics were characterized. For the first time, the study reveals the correlation between the pore structure, hydration products, and hardening properties of alkali-activated rice husk ash-foamed concrete. The results demonstrate that with a decrease in the modulus of the alkaline activator, the presence of accessible OH - ions in the colloid increases, leading to an improvement in the pore structure of alkali-activated rice husk ash-foam concrete and an increase in hydration products. The reduction in interconnected pores, increase in tiny pores, and higher C-S-H gel and ettringite content in the hydration products directly impact the development of concrete strength, reduction in dry density and water absorption rate, and decrease in thermal conductivity. Alkaline activation, through optimizing the pore structure, enhances the attenuation constant and impedance matching of the alkali-activated rice husk ash-foam concrete matrix, enhancing its electromagnetic wave absorption capability. In conclusion, the overall results suggest that alkali-activated rice husk ash-foam concrete is a viable material for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly construction. Rice husk ash Foam concrete Alkali-activated Pore structure Hydration products Hardening properties Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4281925","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":293885815,"identity":"0cad3352-efe6-46ca-bf2d-5770825b830b","order_by":0,"name":"Ying-hua Bai","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4klEQVRIie3QvQrCMBDA8YgQHYKuV/x6hUAhOhR9lUqlUxXcOgoFnXSub1HwBVIKdSnOBR3i0tnRTW1GkVg3h/zHcD9yHEI63R+GG0EsbAqkDUQ+1FbfSIukDhW+1TXCF+FVSB88ZojMtWhelWDwTDpdJ8Q8b9PODVm9iNcLoSSkWIqSsMvJBY5cM+J4SJWk4RzkLyz32Isk04gTDEqCbAZysVCSRwXSnDGwM5dQkIRXIOWRbd8ikC+cUUYdc59gpiSDTRBf7xQm7XAe574/7u2OQaEkb5Wnqv8wr9PpdLrPPQHefUtn2x0gnAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Hubei University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ying-hua","middleName":"","lastName":"Bai","suffix":""},{"id":293885816,"identity":"c13a8a25-d461-4e4f-a679-86fa4047d122","order_by":1,"name":"Yuan-liang Xie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hubei University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yuan-liang","middleName":"","lastName":"Xie","suffix":""},{"id":293885817,"identity":"ffa47e18-9cd4-479a-b0b0-637b541b976d","order_by":2,"name":"Yu Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hubei University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yu","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-04-17 12:33:37","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4281925/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4281925/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":55272478,"identity":"455c4f56-6d6a-497f-a3cd-f41e7f31f98a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-25 03:46:42","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1969034,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4281925/v1_covered_7e26438a-a0f1-482b-b6c3-c778b5ffa09c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eAlkali-activated Rice Husk Ash-Foamed Concrete: Correlation between Microporous Structure, Hydration Characteristics and Hardening Properties \u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Rice husk ash, Foam concrete, Alkali-activated, Pore structure, Hydration products, Hardening properties","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4281925/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4281925/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSolid waste recycling plays a crucial role in environmental protection and energy conservation. This study explores the utilization of rice husk ash as an auxiliary binding material in the production of alkali-activated foamed concrete. The impact of the modulus of the alkaline activator on the dry density, water absorption rate, thermal conductivity, electromagnetic wave absorption, and compressive and flexural strength of rice husk ash-foamed concrete was investigated. Additionally, the foamed concrete's micro-pore structure and hydration characteristics were characterized. For the first time, the study reveals the correlation between the pore structure, hydration products, and hardening properties of alkali-activated rice husk ash-foamed concrete. The results demonstrate that with a decrease in the modulus of the alkaline activator, the presence of accessible OH\u003csup\u003e-\u003c/sup\u003e ions in the colloid increases, leading to an improvement in the pore structure of alkali-activated rice husk ash-foam concrete and an increase in hydration products. The reduction in interconnected pores, increase in tiny pores, and higher C-S-H gel and ettringite content in the hydration products directly impact the development of concrete strength, reduction in dry density and water absorption rate, and decrease in thermal conductivity. Alkaline activation, through optimizing the pore structure, enhances the attenuation constant and impedance matching of the alkali-activated rice husk ash-foam concrete matrix, enhancing its electromagnetic wave absorption capability. 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