j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmrt

Effect of agricultural biomass wastes on thermal

insulation and self-cleaning of fired bricks

Ibrahim M. Maafa a, Ahmed Abutaleb a, Nasser Zouli a,

Abdullah M. Zeyad b,*, Ayman Yousef a,c,**, M.M. Ahmed c
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Jazan University, Jazan, 45142, Saudi Arabia
b
Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Jazan University, Jazan, 45142, Saudi Arabia
c
Department of Mathematics and Physics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at Mataria, Helwan University, Cairo,
11718, Egypt

article info abstract

Article history: This research investigates the feasibility of using dry crushed pomegranate peel waste as
Received 29 December 2022 thermal insulator to produce light clay bricks. Pomegranate peel waste (PW) is used with
Accepted 26 March 2023 different substitution levels of 0%, 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 15% of clay weight. The clay bricks
Available online 3 April 2023 were heated at temperatures of 700, 800, and 900
C, that resulted in the formation of in-
ternal pores due to the combustion of PW. The bulk density, water absorption, porosity,
Keywords: shrinkage, and compressive strength are examined to evaluate the effect of using PW on
Pomegranate peels the physical and mechanical properties of thermal insulation bricks. Also, the investigation
Photocatalytic activity of the effect of photocatalytic activity of bricks under sunlight irradiation is carried out.
Compressive strength The use of PW increased the thermal conductivity up to 21% at 900
C, water absorption
Thermal conductivity from 22.6% in cold water to 29.1% in boiling water, density from 2.5% at 800
C to 7.6% at


Shrinkage 900 C, and shrinkage from 4.3% in linear drying shrinkage to 5.4% in linear firing
shrinkage. The heated brick samples at 700
C showed greater photodegradation efficiency
than firing clay at 800
C and 900
C. Moreover, the compressive strength decreased with
the increase in replacement rate, reaching up to 74% for 15 wt% PW. This study confirms
that lightweight heated bricks with low thermal conductivity and a reasonable compres-
sive strength can be made using PW as a pore-forming agent.
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

urbanization generate huge amount of unmanaged waste that

1. Introduction
Recently, there has been a surge in the requirement of con-
structed buildings to take care of the population growth and
global economic expansion. The population growth also
resulted in the rising consumption of non-renewable re-
sources and energy. Also, the population growth and rapid
results in significant environmental deterioration. To meet
the requirements for construction materials of buildings, it
has become necessary to produce effective and sustainable
building materials [1]. Utilizing waste to produce construction
materials will be beneficial for the environment as well as the
economy [2,3]. One of the contemporary challenges is the

* Corresponding author.
** Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: azmohsen@jazanu.edu.sa (A.M. Zeyad), aymanyousef84@gmail.com (A. Yousef).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.03.189
2238-7854/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3
increasing amount of agricultural solid waste produced by
various production processes that ultimately results in high
environmental liabilities [4]. In this regard, industrial or agri-
cultural wastes can be used to produce lightweight thermal
insulation bricks or concrete [5]. The use of heat-insulating,
lightweight bricks reduce the heat transfer while at the
same time reduce the load on the structural components [6].
These insulating and lightweight bricks help to reduce the size
of structural sections and the amount of energy needed to
heat and cool buildings [7]. The utilization of alternate mate-
rials and techniques to lower construction cost, energy con-
sumption, and increased environmental safety have
motivated the researchers to design sustainable, energy-
saving, and less expensive construction materials [8e11].
Due to their low cost, ease of manufacturing, easy availability
of raw materials, strong resistance to fire and decay, long
lifespan, and recyclability, clay bricks hold a significant mar-
ket share in the wall block industry [12]. Fired clay bricks,
which are known to be the earliest building materials, are one
of the most popular bricks for building construction [13]. Fired
clay bricks have many appealing qualities that can be used in
the construction industry, including low maintenance and
production costs, good load-bearing capacity, longer dura-
bility, heat insulation, etc. [14]. In today's building industry,
thermal insulation of internal enclosure is suggested as a way
to reduce energy consumption by preventing heat from
transferring through the walls [15]. Buildings' thermal insu-
lation qualities has to be improved in order to increase their
energy efficiency [16]. On the other hand, many nations want
to limit the use of clay, which comes from nature, in order to
combat the decline in clean raw material supplies [17]. To
develop the thermal insulation properties of fired bricks,
many studies were conducted to manufacture composite
thermal insulation bricks and studying their mechanical,
physical and thermal properties. These studies were mainly
focused on expanding the spread of micropores within the
fired brick structure during the manufacturing process. For
this purpose, dry and crushed agricultural residues were used
as an addition to the raw clay mixture, that develop to form a
controlled porous structure to enhance the clay bricks' ther-
mal insulation capacity. The worldwide pomegranate pro-
duction is expected to reach 3.8 million metric tons in 2017
[18]. In addition to the significant amount that is produced
every year, this fruit also produces a lot of peels [19]. There are
previous studies that used dry milled agricultural waste, for
example, sawdust [20], tea waste [21], kraft pulp [22], olive
waste [23], recycled paper processing waste [24], rice husk ash
[25], corn cob [26], palm oil fuel ash [27], and sugarcane
bagasse and coffee chaff lignin [28]. Kareem et al. [29] inves-
tigated the effectiveness of the use of pomegranate peel
powder as an additive in concrete mixtures to improve the
compressive strength. The pomegranate peel powder was
added to the mixtures ranging from 0 to 100% of Portland
cement weight. The reported that the compressive strength
increased up to 14.4% for 15% wt. of pomegranate peel pow-
der. Kareem [30] also evaluated the effectiveness of using the
chemically treated pomegranate peel as an additive in con-
crete mixtures to improve the concrete's properties. The
4061
pomegranate peel powder was added to the mixture ranging
from 0 to 70% of Portland cement weight. The author reported
that the compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and
flexural strengths were increased up to 25.9%, 8.0%, and 21.1%
for certain ratios of pomegranate peel powder. Moreover, a
11.1% increase in the elastic modulus was recorded. Mun ~ oz
et al. [31] used agricultural residues from sprouts with an
average particle size of 0.5 mm and 1.5 mm, and with substi-
tution levels of 5%, 10%, and 15% by weight. The examination
results of the thermal and mechanical properties of bricks
showed a decrease in density and thermal conductivity with
an increase in water absorption due to the corresponding in-
crease in the substitution level. They noticed that the effect of
the average particle size did not have a significant effect on
the thermal properties. In addition, the compressive strength
decreased significantly with the increase in the substitution
level, as well as with the increase in the average particle size.
Mahdi et al. [32] studied the efficiency of geopolymer paver
blocks made of brick kiln rice husk ash. They reported that
there was a reduction in the workability of mixtures. However,
adding brick kiln rice husk ash slightly increased compressive
strength while significantly increasing split tensile strength
and flexural strength. In addition, the durability characteris-
tics were significantly enhanced, such as the resistance to acid
and frost attack. In order to choose the appropriate agricul-
tural wastes to fill the hollow bricks, Xie et al. [33] used a va-
riety of agricultural wastes to improve the heat insulation,
including reed stems, reed leaves, rice straws, rice shells, and
wheat stems. According to the testing findings, filling the
hollow brick with agricultural waste significantly enhanced its
heat insulating efficiency (reduction ratios of 2.7e32.7%).
Coltrane et al. [34] investigated the bricks' physical properties
which were prepared using 2.5%, 5%, and 10 wt% sawdust, and
carbonate-containing silicate-rich clays. The addition of
sawdust did not alter the mineralogy of fired bricks at 800
C,
950
C, and 1100
C, but as the combustion temperature
increased, the quartz content decreased, while the carbonates
and sheet silicates disappeared. They stated the plausible
reason for this to be the development of new silicates and the
liberation of carbonates at high temperatures. Regarding the
compressive strength, it is well known that the increased
porosity resulting from the combustion of organic agricultural
waste powder inside the brick samples negatively affects the
compressive strength [35,36]. Photocatalytic materials have
been used in a variety of construction materials (for example,
concretes [37], roof tiles [38], cement [39,40], mortars [40],
gypsums [41,42], and facades [41]) to combat the environ-
mental pollution [38,43]. Also, photocatalytic technology re-
duces the amount of pollution in the environment by using
semiconductors that can be stimulated by photons. Several
semiconductors have been identified in this regard. These
include metal oxides (such as TiO2, ZnO, Fe2O3, ZrO2, CeO2),
mixed oxides, chalcogenides (such as CdS, ZnS), and poly-
metallates (such as SrTiO3, BiVO4) [44e46]. As a result, fired
clay bricks, of which clay is the primary component, may
include varying concentrations of various semiconductors,
enabling them to exhibit photocatalytic effect. Yavas et al. [42]
studied the photocatalytic performance of clay-based bricks
4062 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3

irradiation. In conclusion, agricultural wastes are a preferable

Table 1 e Characteristics of pomegranate peels waste.
option for improving the thermal performance of building in
Oxide Pomegranate peels Clay wt.% rural structures because of their high temperature resistance,
composition waste wt.%
high output, and recyclability. Further, the utilization of PW in
CaO 10.48 0.50 lightweight, fired clay bricks has not previously been
SiO2 0.38 48.93 addressed, especially in the development of thermal insu-
Al2O3 0.1 32.90
lation in clay bricks.
Fe2O3 0.91 1.19
This research investigates the feasibility of using dry
SO3 0.4 0.29
Na2O <0.01 0.09 crushed pomegranate peel waste in the production of light
P2O3 3.33 e clay bricks as thermal insulation. Pomegranate peel waste
K2O 11.68 0.014 (PW) was used with different substitution ratios of 0% (i.e.,
MgO 4.01 0.09 PW), 5% (i.e., PW5), 7.5% (i.e., PW7.5), 10% (i.e., PW10), and
MnO 0.01 e 15% (i.e., PW15) of clay weight. The clay bricks were fired at
TiO2 0.1 5.92
temperatures of 700, 800, and 900
C, which led to the for-
CL 3.19 0.01
ZrO2 e 0.46
mation of internal pores resulting from combustion of PW.
Cr2O3 e 0.14 Bulk density, water absorption, porosity, shrinkage, and
LOI 65.35 9.2 compressive strength were tested to evaluate the effect of
using PW on the physical and mechanical properties of the
thermal insulation bricks. In addition, the study of photo-
prepared under visible light irradiation. The bricks have been catalytic activity of bricks under sunlight irradiation has been
prepared at different firing temperatures of 900
C, 1000
C, carried out. Using PW for brick manufacturing not only solves
and 1100
C. They found that the highest photodegradation the problem of waste disposal but also helps to conserve
efficiency of methylene blue (MB) was exhibited by the clay resources reducing our dependence on the earth's clay
brick fired at 900
C as 75.27% after 5 h exposure to visible light reserves.

400

300
Counts

200

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
-100
º (Copper (Cu))

a. XRD of clay.
400

350

300

250
Counts

200

150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
º (Copper (Cu))

b. XRD of PW
Fig. 1 e a. XRD of clay. b. XRD of PW.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3 4063

2. Experimental study

2.1. Materials

In this research, clay obtained from the local area is used as

the main raw material for making bricks. X-ray fluorescence
(XRF) was used to ascertain the chemical compositions of the
clay, as shown in Table 1. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to
identify the dominant mineral phase of the clay, and PW, as
shown in Fig. 1a and b, respectively. PW was collected from
local juice plant and oven-dried at 50
C, it was then grounded
to powder form using a mortar and pestle. Table 1 displays the
chemical composition of PW after it has been ground into Fig. 2 e Sieve analysis of clay and PW.
powder. PW has a higher LOI because of its higher organic
content. For the decomposition of metal carbonates, the
weight loss was set between temperatures of 210e800
C [47].
Fig. 2 shows the particle size analysis of kaolin clay and PW,
the average diameter was 0.54 and 2.2 mm, respectively.
sample (referred to as a reference) was carried out to verify the
photocatalyst-free degradation of the MB aqueous solution.
2.2. Preparation of samples
Before being subjected to irradiation, the aqueous MB solutions
were allowed to sit in the dark so that the adsorption-
The dried PW was ground in a ball mill and combined with
desorption impact could be evaluated. After this, aqueous
clay at various weight percentages (0, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15%). For
samples were exposed to sunlight irradiation for a period of 5 h.
2 min, the raw materials were blended to create a homoge-
The samples of dye were withdrawn at various time in-
neous dry mixture. 20 wt % of water was added to the mixture
tervals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 h). These samples were centrifuged
before molding them into 50-mm cube molds. To release
to extract any residual brick material from the solution. To
trapped air bubbles, the mixture-filled molds were com-
assess the kinetics of photocatalytic degradation, the typical
pressed at three intervals. The samples were removed and
variations in the absorbance of MB measured at 664 nm were
allowed to dry in their molds for 24 h at room temperature,
monitored by simultaneously examining samples in a spec-
and then dried at 120
C in a drying oven for 6 h Then, the
trophotometer. The photodegradation procedure was carried
samples were soaked at various temperatures (700, 800, and
out in the month of December at ambient temperatures
900
C) for 4 h. To prevent gases from escaping quickly, which
ranging from 24 to 30
C for 300 min from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
could cause crack formation, the heating rate was maintained
at 10
C/min.
2.5. Water absorption

2.3. Samples testing
In order to determine the characteristics of the fired samples,
the following tests were carried out: compressive strength,
percentages of water absorption, apparent porosity, bulk
density, linear drying shrinkage, and linear firing shrinkage.
Three samples were tested in each investigation, and the
average value of the investigated parameter was determined.
2.4. Photocatalytic activity of bricks under sunlight
irradiation
The discoloration of methylene blue (MB) as an organic dye was
monitored using a Shimadzu UV-1240 UVevis spectropho-
tometer analyzer to evaluate the photocatalytic activity of the
fired clay bricks samples. Typically, 25 mg of brick material was
added to 50 ml of prepared aqueous solution of MB dye at a
concentration of 5 ppm. These aqueous solutions were mixed
using a magnetic stirrer while being exposed to the radiation of
the sun. In addition to the bricks samples that were produced at
different firing temperatures, an individual use of a blank
Water absorption was measured in accordance with ISO 5017
standards [48]. The fired bricks were immersed in a boiling
water bath for 5 h before being allowed to cool to room tem-
perature. The specimens were taken out of the water bath,
and any excess water on their surface was gently wiped off
using a soft cloth. Finally, the following equation was used to
quickly record the weight of the wet specimens [49]:
W1  W2
Water absorption ð%Þ ¼ *100; (1)
W2
where W1 refers to the weight of wet bricks and W2 refers to
the weight of fired bricks.
2.6. Apparent porosity
The specimens were examined in accordance with ASTM
standards [50]. The capacity to absorb water is closely related
with the apparent porosity of fired clay bricks. High porosity
fired clay bricks have a low thermal conductivity, which
makes them excellent insulators. The following equation can
be used to compute apparent porosity [51].
4064 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3

Fig. 3 e Compressive strength results.

W1  W2 2.10. Linear drying shrinkage

Apparent Porosity ð%Þ ¼ *100; (2)
V1
where W1 refers to the weight of wet bricks, W2 refers to the We used a Vernier Caliper to measure the 50 x 50  50 mm
weight of fired bricks, V1 refers to the volume of fired bricks. bricks' green and fired measurements, the shrinkage charac-
teristics of the bricks were determined according to ASTM
2.7. Bulk density C326 standards [54]. Then, the average linear shrinkage was
determined. According to Eq. (5), linear shrinkage was esti-
The specimens were examined in accordance with ASTM mated as a proportion of the initial green dimension.
standards [50]. A crucial factor in determining how well burnt
Lp  Ld
clay bricks perform is the clay brick density. The low heat Linear drying shrinkage ð%Þ ¼ *100; (5)
Lp
conductivity and dead loads for the structure are due to the
where Lp refers to length of the brick at the plastic state and Ld
fired bricks' low density. The following equation can be used to
refers to length of the brick at the oven-dry state.
determine bulk density [51]:
  2.11. Linear firing shrinkage
Mass of fired bricks kg
Bulk density ¼ (3)
Volume of fired bricks m3
Ten flat test pieces (20  10 mm, using 4.0 g of material per flat
2.8. Compressive strength test pieces) were created to evaluate the linear firing
shrinkage. The compaction pressure was 47 MPa. The test
The fired bricks were examined in accordance with ISO 9652 pieces were compacted, then oven-dried at 120
± 5
C until
standards [52] by subjecting them to a perpendicular load, the achievement of constant weight, fired for 4 h at700, 800
compressive strength of the specimen may be estimated using and 900
C, and then allowed to cool naturally. The change in
the equation below. length of the flat test pieces after the fire (recorded with
  Mitutoyo callipers with a precision of 0.05 mm) was used to
P N
C¼ ; (4) compute the linear shrinkage.
A mm2

where C refers to the compressive strength of fired bricks in N/

mm2 (MPa). P refers to the maximum load, A refers to the
average cross-sectional area of the fired bricks. The
compressive strength of the sample was established by aver-
aging the compressive strengths of three different samples.
2.9. Thermal conductivity
The KD2 Pro Thermal Properties Analyzer was used to mea-
sure the brick samples' thermal conductivity in accordance
with ASTM D 5334 standards [53]. The thermal conductivity at
ambient temperature is digitally recorded by the analyzer
using a transitory heat conduction method.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Compressive strength
Fig. 3 presents the compressive strength results of
lightweight-fired brick samples. The results show that the use
of PW to improve the physical properties negatively affected
the mechanical properties of the samples. The addition of PW
contributed to the reduction of the compressive strength of
the fired clay at 700
C from 10.2 MPa to 8.3, 7.3, 6.7, and 6 MPa
for 5 PW, 7.5 PW, 10PW, and 15PW, respectively. The reason for
the decrease in compressive strength may be due to the
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3
Fig. 4 e Bulk density results.
increase in porosity of the brick samples, as the higher the
pore content resulting from the combustion of PW the lower
the area of the compressive-resistant brick section. On the
other hand, raising the brick firing temperatures at 800
C
resulted in an improvement in the compressive strength to
13.0, 10.5, 8.6, 8.0, and 3.6 MPa for the PW, 5PW, 7.5 PW, 10PW,
and PW15 samples, respectively. Also, raising the brick firing
temperatures at 900
C resulted in significant improvement in
the compressive strength to 18.5, 13.9, 11.2, 10.3, and 4.6 MPa
for the PW, 5PW, 7.5 PW, 10PW, and PW15 samples, respec-
tively. The increase in compressive strength of fired bricks
with the increase in combustion temperatures is attributed to
the increase in the density of the brick structure, and this is
consistent with many previous studies [55]. The IS 1077e1992
standards [56] states that the minimum compressive strength
of non-bearing clay bricks is 3.5 N/mm2. Therefore, bricks
containing 15% PW can meet the requirement for firing at 800
or 900
C. However, the remaining ratios ranging from 0 to 15%
comply with the specifications of firing clay brick at all tem-
peratures from 700 to 900
C.
3.2. Bulk density
Fig. 4 shows the bulk density values of lightweight
brick samples fired at different firing temperatures. The
lightweight-fired brick samples including PW showed a lower
density than the lightweight-fired brick PW0%, and the bulk
density of the samples decreased with the increase in the
replacement levels of clay by PW. The results show that the
lowest bulk density is at the highest substitution level (15%) of
1315.1, 1328.82, and 1348.2 kg/m3 when the samples were
exposed to combustion temperatures of 700, 800, and 900
C,
respectively. While the bulk densities were 1828.7, 1874.2, and
1922.0 kg/m3 for the samples containing PW0% exposed to
combustion temperatures of 700, 800, and 900
C, respectively.
The bulk density of the lightweight bricks was slightly affected
when the firing temperatures were raised, the higher the
temperature, the higher the density. The bulk density
increased when the combustion temperatures were raised
4065
from 700 to 800
C by 1.04e2.5%. While the density increased
when the combustion temperatures were raised from 700 to
900
C by 2.5e7.6%. According to the obtained bulk density, the
brick can be considered lightweight when it achieves a density
of less than 1680 kg/m3 according to ASTM C90 standard
specifications [57]. The reason for the decrease in density is
due to the increase in pore size resulting from the decompo-
sition of organic matter and mineral hydrates or carbonates in
PW during brick production.
3.3. Water absorption
Fig. 5(a) and (b) show the results of the water absorption of
fired lightweight brick under the effect of cold water and
boiling water at temperatures of 700, 800, and 900
C and at
the clay substitution ratios ranging from 0 to 15%. The water
absorbency of brick is one of the factors that helps in
evaluating brick durability. Moreover, it can be used to es-
timate the physical properties of a brick surface. The water
absorbency of brick increases with the increase in content
of PW linearly, suggesting that PW acts as a pore forming
agent. Replacing the clay with 15 wt% PW, increased the
cold-water absorbency to 22.6%, 21.1% and 20.0% as
compared to the 0% PW replacement which was 16.4%,
14.5%, and 13.9% for the temperatures of 700, 800 and
900
C, respectively. On the other hand, replacing the clay
with 15 wt% PW increased the boiling water absorbency to
29.1%, 27.6%, and 24.2% as compared to the 0% replacement
which was 19.3%, 18.2%, and 17.2% at temperatures of 700,
800 and 900
C, respectively. The water absorbency of
lightweight brick samples is closely related to the total
porosity, which results in better insulating property of clay
bricks.
3.4. Apparent porosity
Fig. 6 shows apparent porosity results of the lightweight fired
brick samples at temperatures of 700, 800, and 900
C and at
the clay substitution ratios ranging from of 0e15%. The
4066 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3

(a) (b)
Fig. 5 e Water absorption results: (a) Cold water absorption; (b) Boiling water absorption.

apparent porosity of fired bricks is one of the most important
factors that have a direct effect on the physical and me-
chanical properties. An increase in apparent pores percentage
is followed by a decrease in compressive strength as shown in
Fig. 7(a), a decrease in bulk density as shown in Fig. 7(b), a
decrease in thermal conductivity, with an increase in dry and
thermal shrinkage as shown in Fig. 7(c), and water absorption
as shown in Fig. 7(d).
3.5. Thermal conductivity
Table 2 shows the thermal conductivity results for all fired
bricks with different PW contents. The control brick (PW)
that was burned at 900
C had the highest thermal conduc-
tivity (0.43 W/m$K), which can be attributed to the higher
firing temperature that produce more dense bricks. The
thermal conductivities of the brick specimens decrease as
the PW content increases, regardless of the firing tempera-
ture. Regarding the firing temperatures of 700, 800, and
900
C, the bricks including 10 wt% PW showed remarkable
reductions of in thermal conductivity around 33, 23, and
21%, respectively, as compared to PW. The brick specimens
with 15 wt% PW content had the lowest thermal conduc-
tivity (0.25 W/m$K) when fired at 900
C. The decrease in
thermal conductivity with increased PW content may be
explained by the formation of pores because of the devola-
tilization of PW additives. Thermal conduction is a mode of
heat transfer caused by movements of microscopic particles.
The thermal conduction in solid materials is caused by
phonon transport, which is a quantized version of atomistic

Fig. 6 e Apparent porosity results.

 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3 4067

R2=0.9 R2=0.
234

(a) (b)

R2=0.89 R2= 0. 88

(c) (d)
Fig. 7 e Linearized plot of apparent porosity with: (a) Compressive strength; (b) Bulk density; (c) Linear firing shrinkage;
(d) Water absorption.

vibrations. Solid matrix lattice vibrations are primarily 3.6. Linear shrinkage
responsible for promoting the heat conductivity of ceramics
and refractories. However, phonon dispersion has a signifi- The linear shrinkage test results during the drying and firing
cant impact on their mean free path. Pores are powerful processes of brick samples are shown in Figs. 8 and 9. Fig. 8
phonon scatterers that can be found among scattering shows that the dry shrinkage value of the lightweight brick
sources (additives, isotopes, etc.) [58]. The pores produced by samples changed when the clay was replaced by 0, 5, 7.5, 10
PW decomposition can boost phonon scattering, which and 15% wt. of PW. The shrinkage rate of lightweight clay
lowers the phonon mean free path and lowers the solid bricks is slightly increased to 3.07%, 3.37%, 3.93%, 4.07%, and
brick's thermal conductivity. 4.29% with the increase in PW composition as 0%, 5%, 7.5%,
10%, and 15%, respectively. The increase in the shrinkage rate
is attributed to the increase in the content of the PW which
allowed a greater shrinkage due to its chemical properties,
Table 2 e Thermal conductivity results at different which are mostly degradable and change their properties
temperatures.
when subjected to hydration and dilution compared to min-
Sample Firing Temp Thermal conductivity Relative eral clay materials [8].
(
C) (W/m$K) Variation The results show in Fig. 9 the change in the firing shrinkage
PW 900 0.43 e value at 700
C of the lightweight brick samples when the clay
5 PW 0.41 4.65% was replaced by 0, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15% wt. by PW. A slight in-
7.5 PW 0.37 13.95
crease in the shrinkage rate is noted as the shrinkage of 0.92%,
10PW 0.29 32.56%
2.3%, 3.11%, 3.38%, and 3.82% for lightweight clay bricks with
15PW 0.25 41.86%
10PW 800 0.33 23.26% PW of 0%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, and 15%, respectively. In addition,
10PW 700 0.34 20.93% the results show an increase in firing shrinkage value at 800
C
4068 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3
Fig. 8 e Linear drying shrinkage results.
of the lightweight brick samples when the clay was replaced
by 0, 5, 7.5, 10, and 15% wt. by PW. A slight increase in the
shrinkage rate is noted as the shrinkage of 1.57%, 3.13%, 3.77%,
4.17%, and 5.07% for lightweight clay bricks with PW of 0%, 5%,
7.5%, 10%, and 15%, respectively. While the results show an
increase in firing shrinkage value at 900
C of the lightweight
brick samples when the clay was replaced by 0, 5, 7.5, 10, and
15% wt. by PW. A slight increase in the shrinkage rate is noted
as the shrinkage of 1.71%, 3.44%, 4.45%, 4.47%, and 5.41% for
lightweight clay bricks with PW of 0%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, and 15%,
respectively. The higher firing shrinkage values when PW
materials are added to lightweight clay bricks are due to the
introduction of PW into a porous structure after firing. In a
previous study by Velasco et al. [35], the results showed an
almost linear shrinkage increase in the range of 6%e2% with
the addition of waste. In this study, this value had a range of
4.08%e2.71%. In addition, linear shrinkage values are impor-
tant because they affect the design of the extrusion die for
final size shaping; And it affects the formation of a dimen-
sional defect in bricks.
3.7. MB photodegradation using brick samples
Fig. 10 displays the photodegradation curve, photocatalytic
kinetics, and photodegradation efficiency as the findings from
the photocatalytic studies in order to assess the self-cleaning
capabilities of the produced brick samples. In this work,
photodegradation of MB was utilized to assess the photo-
catalytic activity of manufactured bricks as the self-cleaning
material. To perform the photodegradation studies, brick
samples were prepared with 10 wt% of pomegranate peel
Fig. 9 e Linear firing shrinkage results.
powder by sintering at different temperatures. The results
showed that the bricks had a high level of photocatalytic ac-
tivity. The findings are shown in Fig. 10(a), where it is clear
that a rapid oxidation of MB was accomplished when it was
exposed to the irradiation of sunlight. In addition, the man-
ufactured brick sample that was fired at 700
C exhibited the
highest photocatalytic activity when compared to the samples
that were fired at 800
C and 900
C, respectively. After 6 h of
irradiation, it is evident that the 10PW-700
C brick sample has
greater activity as compared to 74.5% photodegradation effi-
ciency (Fig. 10(b)). Despite having a lower result (61.8%) than
the 10PW-700
C sample, the photodegradation efficiency of
the 10PW-800
C is still excellent (see Fig. 10(b)). In contrast,
the 10PW-900
C sample only shows 48% photodegradation
efficiency due to an extra increment in firing temperature.
Since the heterogeneous photocatalytic reactions occur on the
surface of a catalyst material, it may be concluded from these
results that the decrease in photodegradation efficiency
because of the temperature increase is related to the change in
the physical properties of the material, including porosity.
Since the surface area is directly proportional to the steady
reduction in the porosity (as observed in Fig. 6), the photo-
degradation rate was severely impacted by the sintering pro-
cess that occurred at higher temperatures. This finding
corroborates the previously published research [42,59,60]. The
authors of these studies hypothesized that a decline in pore
volume and surface area is caused by increasing fire temper-
ature because of the observed decline in photocatalytic
activity.
3.8. Kinetics study
Different models have been developed for describing the ki-
netic behavior of reactions. Pseudo first order (Langmuir-
Hinshelwood) and Pseudo second order models were the most
common. In the majority of published works, the
LangmuireHinshelwood (L-H) model was used to explain the
photocatalytic process. Because of the possibility that all of
the sites on the catalyst surface would be occupied by adsor-
bed reactant molecules, zero-order kinetics was not used
when the substrate concentration was high. The plots of log
(C/Co) against time are shown in Table 3, and they reveal
pseudo first order kinetics. The application of the
LangmuireHinshelwood model to MB dye in the presence of
brick samples resulted in a linear relationship with a corre-
lation factor that was more than 0.98, as shown in Fig. 10(c).
The kinetics study concluded that the pseudo-first-order ki-
netics for the photocatalytic degradation of the MB dye in the
presence of brick samples is consistent with the previous
research [42].
3.9. SEM analysis
The microstructure features of the bricks containing various
PW percentages at firing temperatures equal to 900
C are
shown in Fig. 11. It is evident that the incorporation of PW
caused the formation of significant number of micropores,
which were equally distributed throughout the specimen. The
pores that were visible had different shapes, including round
and oval. The quantity and size of pores are directly
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3 4069

(a) (b)

(c)
Fig. 10 e Photocatalytic activity results: (a) Photocatalytic degradation plot; (b) Photocatalytic degradation efficiency;
(c) Photocatalytic degradation kinetics.

proportional to the amount of PW present. The number and firing and involves the emission of volatile gaseous materials,
diameter of the micropores increase with the PW ratio. The is the cause of pore creation.
generated pores have sizes falling within the sub-millimeter The pore size that was produced because of adding PW to
range. The devolatilization process, which occurs during clay at a rate of 5% by weight is depicted in Figure 11a, where
we can observe a less spread of pores with a smaller size
compared to the higher percentages of PW addition. Also, the
increase in the PW to 10% of clay weight led to an increase in
Table 3 e Pseudo first order constants for MB dye used the size of the pores, which appear in irregular shapes as
10PW at different temperatures.
shown in Figure 11b. This was the due to the increase in the
Sample Kapp -1
(h) R2 pore size. The amount of PW added caused a significant in-

crease in the size of the pores, as shown in Figure 11c. These
PW-700 C 0.025 0.98
10PW-700
C 0.22 0.99 pores have an irregular shape and are large in size, and they
10PW-800
C 0.16 0.99 have the potential to connect with one another to form very
10PW-900
C 0.12 0.98
large pore in the case that the amount of PW added increases
4070 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3

Fig. 11 e Microstructure results by SEM of brick specimens fired at 900
C with various percentages of PW: (a) 5%; (b) 7.5%; (c)
10%; (d) 15%.
 j o u r n a l o f m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h a n d t e c h n o l o g y 2 0 2 3 ; 2 4 : 4 0 6 0 e4 0 7 3
to up to 15% of the clay's weight, as shown in Figure 11d. The
increase in pore size may be attributed to the rise in the pro-
portion of burning materials (PW) that occurred because of
being subjected to high temperatures. During the combustion
of clay bricks process, the burning of PW and the production of
gas within the brick body led to the formation of pores with
irregularly shaped openings. In addition to the amount of PW
that is burned and the gases that are produced, the gas pres-
sure within the brick body is another factor that determines
the shape of the pores.
4. Conclusions
The experimental results of this study lead to the following
conclusions.
 Lightweight-fired bricks with low thermal conductivity and
reasonable compressive strength can be made using PW as
a pore-forming agent.
 The results show that utilizing PW as a partial clay sub-
stitute has decreased the compressive strength with the
increase in the replacement levels of clay by PW. The
lowest compressive strength was attained at the greatest
PW percentage and is found to be 4.6 MPa, which may be
sufficient to meet the criteria for load-bearing blocks in
conventional structures.
 The specimens that included PW showed a lower density
than the control specimen (i.e., PW0%), and the bulk den-
sity of the specimens decreased with the increase in the
replacement levels of clay by PW.
 Increased PW causes an increase in water absorption and
apparent porosity, resulting in a decrease in compressive
strength, bulk density, and thermal conductivity, as well as
an increase in dry and thermal shrinkage.
 The thermal conductivities of the brick specimens
decrease as the PW content increases, regardless of the
firing temperature. The brick specimens with 15 wt% PW
content had the lowest thermal conductivity (0.25 W/m$K)
when fired at 900
C.
 The brick specimens that were fired at 700
C with 10 wt%
PW content exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity as
compared to the samples that were fired at 800
C and
900
C, respectively.
 The SEM analysis of the PW bricks revealed that the
number and dimension of the micropores increased with
the PW ratio.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
4071
Acknowledgements
The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for
Research and Innovation, Ministry of Education in Saudi
Arabia for funding this research work through the project
number ISP22-27.
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