Open Access

ARTICLE

Fabrication of Baking-Free Bricks Using Gold Tailings and Cemented Materials with Low Alkalinity

Jiamao Li^1,2,*, Tao Si¹, Lin Li¹, Chuangang Fan^1,*, Zhaofang He³, Yuandi Qian³

1 School of Materials Science and Engineering, Anhui University of Technology, Maanshan, 243032, China
2 Key Laboratory of Green Fabrication and Surface Technology of Advanced Metal Materials, Ministry of Education, Maanshan, 243002, China
3 China MCC17 Group Co., Ltd., Maanshan, 243000, China

* Corresponding Authors: Jiamao Li. Email: ; Chuangang Fan. Email:

Journal of Renewable Materials 2022, 10(11), 3041-3058. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2022.020054

Received 01 November 2021; Accepted 23 December 2021; Issue published 29 June 2022

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was using gold mine tailings and cemented materials with low alkalinity to fabricate baking-free bricks. The obtained baking-free brick samples were evaluated by unconfined compressive strength (UCS), water absorption percentage, freezing-thawing cycle, and drying-wetting cycle. The microstructures of the baking-free brick samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The baking-free brick specimens cured for 28 days with the addition of 10% mixing water consumption and 1:6 cement/tailing ratio tended to obtain favorable comprehensive properties such as a high compressive strength of 15.15 MPa, a low water absorption percentage of 11.8%, excellent freezing-thawing resistance with a 8.9% UCS loss rate after 15 freezing-thawing cycles and good drying-wetting resistance with a 11% UCS loss rate after 10 drying-wetting cycles. The XRD and SEM test results verified that different kinds of hydrate products including C-S-H and C-S-A-H gels, and ettringite were produced during hydration process, which were responsible for good physical, mechanical properties, and durability of the obtained baking-free bricks. Therefore, the experimental results showed that it was practical and reasonable to utilize the homemade cementitious materials in our laboratory to stabilize the gold tailings for production of baking-free bricks, which still met the requirements of major regional construction standards in some countries.

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