Biochar as an additive/filler or even replacement for cement and concrete
Biochar is a carbon-rich material derived from biomass waste that can be used as an additive or even a replacement for cement and concrete in construction projects. Biochar has many benefits for the environment and the performance of concrete. Some of these benefits are:
- Biochar can sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the cement industry, which accounts for about 8% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions.
- Biochar can improve the mechanical properties of concrete, such as compressive strength, bending strength and fracture energy, by acting as micro-aggregates and providing nucleation sites for chemical reactions.
- Biochar can enhance the functional properties of concrete, such as humidity regulation, thermal insulation, noise reduction, air/water purification, electromagnetic shielding and self-sensing.
- Biochar can reduce the demand for natural resources, such as sand and gravel, which are scarce and conflictual ingredients for concrete production.
Biochar is a versatile and sustainable material that can transform concrete into a carbon-negative and high-performance construction material. Biochar can be produced from various sources of biomass waste, such as agricultural residues, forestry by-products and municipal solid waste. Biochar can be incorporated into concrete in different forms and proportions, depending on the desired properties and applications.
Research frontier: self-healing concrete. In a 2018 paper in Cement and Concrete Composites, Gupta, Kua and Pang immobilized bacteria in biochar to heal cracks in cement mortar, an approach that combines self-healing with carbon sequestration. Read the paper. This is published research by others, not a product claim.
Peer review journal articles on the subject
- Biochar-Added Cementitious Materials—A Review on Mechanical, Thermal, and Environmental Properties
- Biochar as Cement Replacement to Enhance Concrete Composite Properties: A Review
- Biochar-based cement pastes and mortars with enhanced mechanical properties
- Mechanical and Microstructure Properties of Biochar-Based Mortar: An Internal Curing Agent for PCC
- Production of Biochar and Its Potential Application in Cementitious Composites
- Recent advancements in the use of biochar for cementitious applications: A review
- The Utilization of Agricultural Waste as Agro-Cement in Concrete: A Review
- Toward Carbon-Neutral Concrete through Biochar–Cement–Calcium Carbonate Composites: A Critical Review
- Using Biochar for cement replacement
- Biomass-Based-Concretes
