The Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST) researchers are currently exploring ways to develop materials to replace natural sand in construction.
This approach aims to address the environmental challenges faced by the construction sector such as the scarcity of natural sand and the high carbon emissions from traditional building materials.
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The researchers intend to find ways to store carbon dioxide (CO₂) from industrial flue gas in excavated soil and construction and demolition (C&D) waste.
This is expected to partially replace natural sand in the sector.
CST assistant professor Souradeep Gupta said: “CO₂ utilisation and sequestration can be a scalable and feasible technology for manufacturing low-carbon prefabricated building products, while being aligned with the nation’s decarbonisation targets.”
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The team, led by Gupta, has noted that substituting natural sand with carbon dioxide-treated C&D waste can improve the compressive strength of mortar.
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By GlobalDataBy curing the material in a CO₂-rich environment, a 20-22% increase in strength is claimed to have been achieved.
This method also accelerates the material’s engineering properties development.
Gupta’s lab has also explored the benefits of injecting CO₂ into clayey soil, which is noted to be excavated at construction sites.
The result is said to be a more stable clay that improved the overall engineering performance of the material.
In its recent study, the team found that using cement-lime-soil materials treated with CO₂ to replace up to half of the fine aggregates in mortar increased early-age strength by approximately 30% and reduced curing time.
CST first author and PhD student Ashutosh Dwivedi said: “When you sequester carbon dioxide in cement-soil materials, tiny crystals of calcium carbonates are formed, which reduce the fraction of medium capillary pores, densify the interfacial zones and thus improve the compressive strength.”
The next phase of research is intended to investigate the effects of industrial and simulated flue gases on the properties of these materials.
Gupta’s team is also engaging with construction companies to implement these findings in production processes.
Gupta is contributing to a national committee tasked with revising standards for natural and recycled aggregates in cement-based construction materials.
