Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798

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Construction and Building Materials

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

The effect of powder activated carbon on mechanical properties and pore

structures of cement-based mortars
Yang Wang a, Yong Ge a, *, Xiaowei Wang b, Xin Chen a, Qinfei Li c, *
a
School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, PR China
b
UJN & Vree Joint Research Institute of New Materials Engineering & Technology, Tsingtao, PR China
c
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Preparation and Measurement of Building Materials, Univerisity of Jinan, Jinan 250000, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Powdered activated carbon (PAC) has a well-developed micropore structure for adsorbing nitrous oxides, volatile
Activated carbon organic chemicals (VOCs) and erosion ions in cement-based materials with the potential to improve their
Pore structure durability and the multi-functionality. The mechanical properties, water absorption ratio and pore structure of
Mechanical properties
cement-based mortars were investigated with PAC of 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% by weight of cement and fly ash (FA).
X-ray computed tomography
As PAC incorporation ratio increased, the compressive and flexural strengths of the mortars with and without FA
both increased. PAC had a significant impact on the evolution of the pore structure of the cement pastes with and
without fly ash, causing changes in the water absorption ratio of the mortars. As the PAC incorporation ratio
increased from 0.5% to 2.0% by mass of the binders, the total porosity of the cement pastes without FA increased,
but the total porosity of the FA-blended cement pastes decreased. When PAC and FA were used together in
cement pates, PAC was excellently compatible with the cement matrix, dispersing well into the hardened cement
pastes in 3-dimensional space. The volume fraction in the micron-scale pore structures using 3-dinmensional
visualization was decreasing with an increase of the incorporation of PAC and the degree of reaction of fly
ash. Therefore, PAC is an effectively porous material for improving the mechanical properties and pore structure
of cement-based materials.

1. Introduction carbon-rich materials are used to form thermally by a series of processes,

Cement-based mortar and concrete have been developed into the
most consuming building materials worldwide. Hardened cement paste
in mortar and concrete is a porous alkaline material with inevitable
defects, such as pores and cracks [1]. Pores in cement pastes are clas­
sified as nanopores, micropores and millipores [2]. Pore structure in
mortar and concrete is one of the most important factors for the dura­
bility of concrete [3–5]. Optimizing pore structure in concrete can
substantively improve the permeability and the freeze–thaw damage by
using air-entraining admixtures [6,7], although it weakens the
compressive strength of mortar or concrete [7,8]. Air voids in fresh
pastes are vulnerable and unstable before hardening; besides, pore size
and pore distribution in mortar or concrete are easily affected by
cementitious materials, mix design and mixing methods, temperature,
setting time, etc [8].
By comparison of air entrainment, activated carbon has an extremely
high specific surface area and microporosity, in which renewable
such as acid and alkali treatment [9]. Activated carbon is a typically
amorphous material with excellent chemical stability, which is also of
acid- and alkali-resisting and does not dissolve in water and organic
solvents [10]. Because of the excellent adsorption capacity of activated
carbon, it is usually used to study functional absorption in industries and
cement-based materials [11,12]. In industries, activated carbon has
usually been used for water purification and absorption of mercury
vapor in coal-fired power plants. M. Horgnies et al. [13] and M Di
Tommaso et al. [14] recently investigated the NOx de-pollution of
activated carbon (AC) by hardened concrete for the application of road
tunnels and parking garages. N. J. Krou et al. [15] studied the reactivity
of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in AC-containing cement paste.
Mehrdad Mahoutian et al. [16] observed the influence of PAC and fly
ash on the air void characteristics of concrete with adding the air-
entraining surfactant, and concluded that PAC has no effect on the air
void content and space factor in concrete. Chun On Chin et al. [17,18]
used granular activated carbon as coarse aggregate for improving

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: geyong@hit.edu.cn (Y. Ge), mse_liqf@ujn.edu.cn (Q. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.125798
Received 6 April 2021; Received in revised form 15 November 2021; Accepted 20 November 2021
Available online 30 November 2021
0950-0618/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y. Wang et al.
workability, resistance to water penetration and thermal properties.
Seungwon Kim and Cheolwoo Park used activated carbon to develop a
carbon-capturing concrete that has acted as well as passive carbon
reduction functions using blast-furnace slag [19]. Moises Frías et al.
concluded that a high content of waste activated carbon increased the
drying shrinkage and lowered the mechanical strength due to the in­
crease of the intermediate macropore (0.001–0.09 mm3) volume [12].
The pore structure of cement concrete determines the durability of
the concrete, such as impermeability, frost resistance, corrosion resis­
tance, etc. However, activated carbon has a well-developed microporous
structure and a high specific surface area, and it is interesting to study
how this affects the intrinsic pore structure of cementitious materials.
Fly ash is one of the most commonly used supplementary cementitious
materials for cementitious materials, and the study of the mechanism of
the effect of activated carbon on mechanical properties and pore
structure, comparing the presence or absence of fly ash, provides the
necessary theoretical basis for the development of the properties of
activated carbon cementitious materials. In this study, the properties of
mortars containing powder activated carbon (PAC) were investigated,
including the compressive and flexible strength, water absorption at
early ages, morphology, pore size distribution and sphericity. The
Micro-computed tomography (CT) technique was used to determine the
air-void characteristics of hardened mortar. Finally, the evaluation of
the air void structure containing PAC was described.
2. Materials and experimental methods
2.1. Materials
The chemical properties of Cement P.I. 42.5 and Class I fly ash (FA)
were listed in Table 1. The specific gravity of the cement and FA were
3.15 g/cm3 and 2.63 g/cm3 respectively. The International Standardi­
zation Organization (ISO) sands were used to prepare the mortars
specimens. Commercial granular activated carbon was made of coconut
shells. The specific gravity, the iodine number, the specific surface area
of micropores, the pore volume of micropores and the mean pore
diameter of the PAC were provided as 0.54 g/cm3, 1450 mg/g, 786.03
m2/g, 0.42 cm3/g and 2.17 nm. This granular activated carbon was
grounded by a planet mill and then was passing through 200 mesh sieve
(<74 μm) in Fig. 1. Also, Fig. 2 showed the diameter and particle size
distribution of Cement P.I. 42.5, fly ash and PAC measured by a Mas­
tersizer 2000 (Malvern Instruments).
2.2. Mix design
The mix compositions were given in Table 2. Four mixes contained
15 wt% of fly ash by mass of the cement. For all mixes, the ratio of binder
to sand was kept constant at 1:3 by mass, and the ratio of water to
cementitious binders was kept constant at 0.4. The PAC was used at
dosages of 0.5%, 1% and 2.0% by mass of the cement and FA. All the
mixes were mixed according to the Chinese standard GB/T 17671-2020.
The cuboids of 40 mm × 40 mm × 160 mm were cast in the steel mold.
All specimens were cured under the 25 ± 2 ◦ C temperature and the 95 ±
Table 1
XRF results of cement P. I. 42.5 and FA.
Chemical composition Cement P. I. 42.5 Fly Ash
SiO2 21.5 52.3
Al2O3 4.4 33.5
CaO 64.6 3.6
MgO 1.9 0.4
Fe2O3 3.1 4.1
K2O / 0.5
SO3 2.1 1.0
ROx (rest oxides) 1.4 2.7
LOI (loss on ignition) 1.0 1.9
2
Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798
5% relative humidity before testing. Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer
was used to adjust the similar fluidity (70 ± 5 mm) of the mortars by
mass of cement and fly ash.
2.3. Test methods
Mechanical properties. The compressive and flexural strength of
mortars were tested at curing 3 days, 7 days and 28 days under ≥ 90% of
relative humidity and 20 ± 2 ◦ C according to GB/T 17671-1999
“Cementitious Sand Strength Test Method (ISO Method)” [20].
Water absorption. The 40 mm × 40 mm × 160 mm bars of these
cement-based mortars curing for 3 days and 7 days were respectively cut
into slices with a thickness of about 10 mm by a cutting machine. The
average test results on at least 3 specimens constituted the test result.
The surface contacting the water was polished until flatting. The pol­
ished specimens were vacuum dried for 24 h under 50 ◦ C. The dried
specimens are sealed with epoxy resin on the four sides and air-dried for
20 min, and the initial weight of the specimen, W0, was recorded. And
then place all specimens of one group in the uptake container with their
top faces, in contact with the specimen supports. Make sure that there
was a minimum 3 mm space between top faces and water, and half of
each specimen was immersed into water. At 10 min, 20 min, 40 min, 90
min, 150 min, 330 min and 390 min, measure the weight grams to the
nearest 0.1 g of each specimen, Wt. Calculate water adsorption rate as
100 × (Wt − W0)/W0 where t is the measurement time in min. Please
note during each weighting, wipe-off surface water from each specimen
and weighting within 1 min, and then replace the specimen into the
uptake container and keep the water immersion depth constant.
Morphological Characterizations. To observe the interfacial
morphology between PAC and cement matrix in mortars, the facture
surface of 28-day PAC-blended cement pastes was measured by a ZEISS
Sigma 300 filed emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). Three-
dimensional images of the fragments of the hardened cement paste
curing for 28 days were collected by a Zeiss Xradia 510 Versa at 80 kV
and 87 μA for X-ray source (pixel size = 0.6832 μm), and the visuali­
zation was reconstructed by the software of Scout-and-ScanTM Control
System Reconstructor (version 12.08025.19497) and TXM3DViewer
(version1.2.9). The segmentation of pores in all the slices of the samples
and the calculation of volume porosity were analyzed by Avizo 9.7.
Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP). To evaluate the pore struc­
tures of PAC-blended cement pastes, the fragments of the hardened
cement paste curing for 28 days were measured by Micromeritics
AutoPore IV 9500. Samples were vacuum-dried at 60 ◦ C for 48 h before
testing. Low pressure of 0 ~ 1500 Psia and high pressure of 1500 ~
30,000 Psia were used to measure the pore structure of the fragments.
3. Result and discussion
3.1. Compressive strength v.s. flexural strength
The effect of PAC on the compressive and flexural strength of the
mortars containing fly ash was shown in Fig. 3. The addition of PAC
could enhance the compressive strength of the mortars without fly ash
by more than 5 MPa, while PAC had less enhancement on the
compressive strength of the mortars containing fly ash. At 3 days, the
compressive strengths of the specimens with PAC were increased by
more than 10 percent higher than that of the absence of PAC; when the
specimens were cured for 7 days, the compressive strengths were
enhanced more than 20 percentage, especially 40% for 1.0% PAC; at 28
days, the compressive strengths had already kept stable and the
enhancement percentage reached to 9 percent. In absence of fly ash, the
more PAC blended, the higher the 3-day, 7-day and 28-day compressive
strength. When 15 percent of fly ash by mass of cement was added into
the mortars, PAC did not affect the development of the compressive
strengths of these mortars, although the fly ash usually is used as a
supplementary cementitious material [9,21] causing a decrease of the
Y. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798

Fig. 1. SEM images of PAC before and after grounding.

early strength. In Fig. 3c, the addition of PAC also could increase the
flexural strength of the mortars without fly ash by less than 1 MPa, while
PAC slightly increased the flexural strength of the mortars containing fly
ash, especially curing at 3 days. PAC is used as a porous material and has
the capability of enhancing the strength of the mortars at different ages.
However, since PAC cannot react with cement, the filling effect of these
powders is the key to the enhancement of these mortars. Freeman E et al.
have studied that carbonaceous solids do not cause adverse impacts on
the compressive strength of concrete [22].

3.2. Water absorption rate at early ages

Fig. 2. The diameter and particle size distribution of Cement P.I. 42.5, fly ash
and PAC.
The water absorption rate at early ages affects the autogenous and
drying shrinkage. The water absorption rate of cement specimens with
different activated carbon powders and fly ash at 3 days and 7 days were
shown in Fig. 4. Although the water absorption of the specimens
increased with PAC content at 3 days in Fig. 4a and b, PAC reduced the
water absorption rate at 7 days. At the early age, the hydration products
around the PAC were not sufficiently dense, increasing water sorption.
As the hydration proceeds, the release of adsorbed water from PAC
promoted hydration products on the particle surface. Chun On Chin et.
al studied the effect of granular activated carbon on the mechanical

Table 2
Mix design of the pastes and mortars.
Specimen Water/g Cement/g Fly Ash/g PAC/% ISO Sand/g Polycarboxylate Superplasticizer/g

0FA0PAC 180 450 0 0 1350 0.68

0FA0.5PAC 450 0 0.5 0.73
0FA1.0PAC 450 0 1 0.79
0FA2.0PAC 450 0 2 0.90
15FA0PAC 382.5 67.5 0 0.75
15FA0.5PAC 382.5 67.5 0.5 0.83
15FA1.0PAC 382.5 67.5 1 0.91
15FA2.0PAC 382.5 67.5 2 1.15

3
Y. Wang et al.
Fig. 3. The compressive and flexural strength of cement-based mortars with PAC.
properties and the water permeability of lightweight concrete and
concluded that the granular activated carbon was used as coarse
aggregate, which demonstrated a great resistance to the water pene­
tration of concrete[17,18]. Besides, granular activated carbon also
increased the compressive strength of cement mortars when sand was
replaced 1% by mass [23]. At 3 days and 7 days, specimen containing fly
ash exhibited a lower water absorption rate compared to the control
specimen, in accordance with some studies [24–26]. At 7 days,
15FA0PAC specimen had a better resistance to water absorption
compared with the PAC group due to the adsorptive property of PAC. It
could be interpreted that the accumulation effect of fly ash particles
made the cement matrix denser and affected the interfacial bonding
between PAC and the cement matrix when it is co-existing with acti­
vated carbon, thus making the water absorption rate lower than that of
the experimental group without fly ash blending. The development of
water absorption of all the specimens are affected by pore structure and
hydration products, and the PAC and fly ash also changes physically and
chemically the microstructure of the specimens.
3.3. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP)
The parameters about the pore structure of the hardened cement
pastes were listed in Table 3. Fig. 5 showed the cumulative pore volumes
of the specimens at 28 days. Regardless of the incorporation of fly ash, as
the content of PAC increased, the pore volume of all specimens
decreased. But the pore volume of the specimens containing PAC was
always higher than that of the 0PAC group. The cumulative pore volume
of 0FA0.5PAC, 0FA1.0PAC and 0FA1.5PAC at 28 days of age were
0.0382, 0.0357 and 0.0338 mL/g respectively, which were respectively
4
Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798
higher than approximately 19.4%, 11.6% and 5.6% compared with that
of 0FA0PAC. When fly ash was blended in the specimens, the cumulative
pore volume of all specimens decreased compared with the specimens in
absence of FA; besides, the values of PAC groups approached the value of
15FA0PAC. It seemed to be due to the filling effect and the pozzolanic
reaction of fly ash, so that the cumulative pore volume at 28 days of age
decreased the most to 0.242 mL/g. In Table 3, the average pore radius of
15FA0PAC was 147.4 nm, while that of 0FA0PAC was 100.9. All char­
acteristic pore sizes of 0FA samples are correspondingly higher than
15FA samples. Generally, lower porosity, lower permeability; however,
higher porosity does not necessarily imply worse permeability [27]. The
shape, tortuosity, connectivity and type of pores affect the water and
ions transport properties in cement paste. Although the addition of fly
ash increased the average pore radius, it also affects the pore type of FA-
blend cement paste, such as median pore diameter, critical pore size, etc.
Fig. 6 showed the changes of the porosity in PAC-cement pastes with
and without fly ash. To visualize the evolution in the pore size distri­
bution by PAC and fly ash replacement ratio, the radii of the pores were
classified into four ranges of small capillary pores (10 nm ~ 100 nm),
medium capillary pores (100 nm ~ 1 μm), large capillary pores (1 μm ~
10 μm) and large pores (10 μm ~ 50 μm). It is generally believed that
capillary pores in the size range of 5 nm ~ 50 nm are capable of
generating large capillary shrinkage forces and causing shrinkage of
concrete, and pores in the range of 2.5 nm ~ 200 nm affect the self-
shrinkage of low water-cement ratio concrete [28,29]. As the addition
of PAC increased, the fraction of the pores of 10 nm ~ 100 nm decreased
by less than one-third, while that of the pores larger than 10 μm
increased by more than twice. Also, the presence of PAC made the
content of the pores (<10 μm) decrease by less than 10 percent,
Y. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798

Fig. 4. The changes of the absorption rate of the cement-based mortars at the early ages.

could be increased by PAC, cooperating with the pozzolanic reactivity

Table 3
and filling effect of fly ash.
MIP results in mortars containing different PAC contents at 28 days.
Table 3 also listed the MIP results in mortars containing different
Specimen Total intrusion Total Average Pore Median Pore PAC contents at 28 days. Although the average pore radius was
volume (mL/g) porosity radius (nm) diameter (nm)
decreased dramatically by the increasing PAC incorporation ratio, there
(%)
were marginal changes for the median pore diameter. Therefore, PAC
0FA0PAC 0.0319 6.97% 100.9 17.0
and fly ash improved the pores of the PAC-FA cement paste. Fig. 7 and
0FA0.5PAC 0.0382 8.29% 60.7 18.7
0FA1.0PAC 0.0357 7.89% 45.2 23.3
Fig. 8 presented the pore size distribution of the specimens at 28 days.
0FA2.0PAC 0.0338 7.24% 45.7 22.9 The introduction of porous PAC induced sharp peaks between 10 nm and
15FA0PAC 0.0314 7.10% 147.3 29.3 100 nm. This suggested that PAC can enhance the amount of the small
15FA0.5PAC 0.0251 5.30% 77.7 26.4 and medium capillary pores, which affect the permeability of hardened
15FA1.0PAC 0.0242 5.22% 81.2 22.3
cement paste.
15FA2.0PAC 0.0255 5.47% 54.1 21.0

3.4. Morphology
especially 50 percent for 0FA1.0PAC and 0FA2.0PAC. When the porosity
of medium and large capillaries were high, a continuous, through
The 15FA1.0PAC sample containing fly ash and PAC were repre­
network system may be formed, which greatly affects the permeability
sented in Fig. 9, just as the activated carbon powders have a large
of the cement paste. Pore size and porosity can affect the strength and
number of pores with microns and sub-microns in Fig. 1. These PAC are
permeability of concrete [30,31]. It is the capillary pores with a pore size
excellent compatible with the cement matrix, and there is no or marginal
of 10 nm to 10 μm that affect the permeability of concrete [32].
gap between them. Some fibrous ettringites and plate-like AFm phases
Therefore, the size and number of pore sizes of these medium and large
grew on the surface of the PAC particle. FA had a chemical reactivity in
capillary pores affect the durability of the cement stone or concrete in
cement paste that the needle-like ettringites could grow and assemble on
terms of permeability and frost resistance. When the dosage of PAC was
the surface of FA shown in Fig. 9d.
constant, the total porosity of the specimens containing fly ash was
Fig. 10 showed a series of slices and these three-dimensional visu­
smaller than that of the specimens excluding fly ash. It was approved
alizations of the pores larger than one micron in the cement pastes
that the fly ash had the capability of filling the pores larger than 10 μm.
containing PAC and fly ash at 28 days. Porous PAC was dispersed well
This suggested that the pore structure ranging from 10 nm to 50 μm
into the hardened cement pastes, and there was plenty of globular fly ash

5
Y. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798

Fig. 5. Cumulative pore volumes of the cement pastes at 28 days.

and fragmental clinkers without hydrating. Since the pixel size of the
slices is 2 μm, the pores larger than 2 μm were visualized and the
porosity of these pores also was calculated at the 3-dimension level. As
the PAC incorporation ratio increased, the volume fraction of the pores
larger than 2 μm was decreasing from 5% down to 4.13%, in accordance
with MIP results in Fig. 6. In 3-dimensional visualization, these pores in
PAC were connected, and there were several spherical pores in hardened
cement pastes. Also, PAC was greatly compatible with the cement ma­
trix, and there were no cracks between the PAC and cement paste. This
suggested that the 3-dimensional pore structure became more complex
with the incorporation of PAC and the degree of reaction of fly ash. The
intrinsically porous PAC activated carbon in the cement creates caused
the total pore volume to become larger and the water absorption to be
greater than that of the blank group. The incorporation of fly ash makes
the interior of the cement denser and prevents the activated carbon
powder from absorbing water, resulting in lower water absorption in the
experimental group with fly ash than in the experimental group without
fly ash. It can be seen that some cement hydration products appeared on
the surface and inside the found activated carbon particles, filling some
of the pores and making them denser, thus explaining the increased
compressive strength of the cement by the addition of activated carbon
[33].
Fig. 6. The porosity of pores with different sizes in PAC-cement pastes with and
without fly ash.

Fig. 7. Pore size distribution and Cumulative Intrusion Curves of PAC-cement pastes.

6
Y. Wang et al. Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798

Fig. 8. Pore volume distribution at PAC-cement pastes.

Fig. 9. SEM images of the 28-day hydrated cement paste with 2% PAC.

4. Conclusion PAC. The following conclusions of this study are summarized as follows:

The study investigated the effect of PAC on the mechanical proper­ (1) As the PAC incorporation ratio increased, the improvement in the
ties and pore structure characteristics of cement-based mortars. In compressive and flexural strength due to the filling effect of PAC
addition, 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional microscopic techniques are increased after 3 days.
adopted to observe the morphology of the blended pastes containing

7
Y. Wang et al.
Fig. 10. Micro-CT slices and three-dimensional rendering of PAC-cement pastes with the size of 1250 mm × 1250 mm × 1800 mm.
(2) As the PAC incorporation ratio increased, the absorption rate of
the mortars increased at 3 days, while the absorption rate of the
mortars was fluctuating at 7 days due to the continuous hydration
of the cementitious materials and the complex pore structure.
(3) PAC has a significant impact on the evolution of pore structure
with and without fly ash. As the PAC incorporation ratio
increased, the total porosity of the cement pastes without fly
increased; as for the fly ash-blended pastes, the changes were
opposite. Besides, the addition of PAC could decrease dramati­
cally the average pore radius of the cement pastes, and increase
the fraction of the small and medium capillary pores.
(4) PAC were excellent compatible with the cement matrix, and there
was hardly any gap between them. Porous PAC was dispersed
well into the hardened cement pastes in 3-dimensional space. The
volume fraction of the pores in the micron-scale was decreasing
with an increase of the incorporation of PAC and the degree of
reaction of fly ash.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yang Wang: Data curation, Writing – original draft. Yong Ge: Su­
pervision. Xiaowei Wang: Data curation, Writing – review & editing.
Xin Chen: Methodology, Software. Qinfei Li: Writing – review & edit­
ing, Supervision.
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.
Acknowledgments
This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science
8
Construction and Building Materials 316 (2022) 125798
Foundation of China (No. 51802112) and Natural Science Foundation of
Shandong Province (ZR2019BEM034).
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