Advancing concrete technology by two-step CO2 mineralization for enhanced performance and sustainability

Advancing concrete technology by two-step CO2 mineralization for enhanced performance and sustainability | 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 Advancing concrete technology by two-step CO 2 mineralization for enhanced performance and sustainability Md Athar Kazmi, Lakshmi Vara Prasad Meesaraganda, Ashok Muruganantham, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8322659/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Concrete carbonation typically reduces alkalinity, leading to issues with durability and reinforcing corrosion. Conversely, early-age carbonation and cement hydration combine to produce micro-level calcium carbonate, which densifies the concrete, fills pores, and increases ettringite volumes, all of which significantly enhance the material's strength and durability. Conventional CO 2 use techniques, such as carbonation curing and conditioning of recycled aggregates, have drawbacks that limit their efficacy to surface layers, the need for large chambers and limited diffusion rates. To overcome these restrictions, the present research introduces a novel CO 2 mineralization method during mixing, which is carried out in two steps. To produce CO 2 -mineralized concrete, CO 2 was first sequestered into cementitious materials, and then CO 2 -sequestrated cementitious material is combined with the other ingredients of the concrete. The fresh properties of the CO 2 -added concrete act equivalently to reference concrete with a marginal decrement, which can be deemed acceptable. The optimal CO 2 mineralization dose of 0.2% enhances the compressive strength of concrete by 60.69% compared to conventional concrete. Microstructural investigations, carried out using scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis, confirm the formation of additional calcium carbonate and refined hydration products in CO 2 -mineralized mixtures. The strength improvement due to CO 2 addition can be leveraged to design concrete with the same strength using a reduced cement content, and it was found that a 7.5% reduction in cement content in the optimum CO 2 mineralized concrete can be achieved without compromising compressive strength. This method can reduce carbon emissions by 8%, saving 7.5% of Portland cement and maintaining equivalent durability to conventional concrete. Hence, this research demonstrates that incorporating CO 2 as an admixture in concrete is a feasible practice for attractive concrete properties and mitigating CO 2 emissions, providing double benefits. Cement hydration CO2 mineralization Calcium carbonate Concrete performance Sustainability Cost analysis Full Text Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 31 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 22 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 16 Dec, 2025 First submitted to journal 13 Dec, 2025 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. 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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-8322659","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":563980008,"identity":"8400f216-6b49-4f54-b296-70966fe6b4a1","order_by":0,"name":"Md Athar 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sustainability\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"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":"environmental-science-and-pollution-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"espr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Science and Pollution Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/11356)","snPcode":"11356","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11356/3","title":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Cement hydration, CO2 mineralization Calcium carbonate, Concrete performance, Sustainability, Cost analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8322659/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8322659/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eConcrete carbonation typically reduces alkalinity, leading to issues with durability and reinforcing corrosion. Conversely, early-age carbonation and cement hydration combine to produce micro-level calcium carbonate, which densifies the concrete, fills pores, and increases ettringite volumes, all of which significantly enhance the material's strength and durability. Conventional CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e use techniques, such as carbonation curing and conditioning of recycled aggregates, have drawbacks that limit their efficacy to surface layers, the need for large chambers and limited diffusion rates. To overcome these restrictions, the present research introduces a novel CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e mineralization method during mixing, which is carried out in two steps. To produce CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e-mineralized concrete, CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e was first sequestered into cementitious materials, and then CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e-sequestrated cementitious material is combined with the other ingredients of the concrete. The fresh properties of the CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e-added concrete act equivalently to reference concrete with a marginal decrement, which can be deemed acceptable. The optimal CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e mineralization dose of 0.2% enhances the compressive strength of concrete by 60.69% compared to conventional concrete. Microstructural investigations, carried out using scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis, confirm the formation of additional calcium carbonate and refined hydration products in CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e-mineralized mixtures. The strength improvement due to CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e addition can be leveraged to design concrete with the same strength using a reduced cement content, and it was found that a 7.5% reduction in cement content in the optimum CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e mineralized concrete can be achieved without compromising compressive strength. This method can reduce carbon emissions by 8%, saving 7.5% of Portland cement and maintaining equivalent durability to conventional concrete. Hence, this research demonstrates that incorporating CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e as an admixture in concrete is a feasible practice for attractive concrete properties and mitigating CO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e emissions, providing double benefits.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Advancing concrete technology by two-step CO2 mineralization for enhanced performance and sustainability","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-25 04:58:29","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8322659/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"","date":"2025-12-31T10:47:59+00:00","index":0,"fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-22T09:04:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-12-16T05:06:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","date":"2025-12-13T06:15:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-science-and-pollution-research","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"espr","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Science and Pollution Research](https://www.springer.com/journal/11356)","snPcode":"11356","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11356/3","title":"Environmental Science and Pollution Research","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"2fc23d4d-96a1-46b2-a99c-eb284851ec49","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 25th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-25T04:58:29+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-25 04:58:29","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8322659","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8322659","identity":"rs-8322659","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}