Strength and Carbonation of Sand Cement Brick Containing Fly Ash as Partial Cement Replacement Under CO2 Curing
Faisal Sheikh KHALID, Ming Quan CHONG, Syazwi Hakimi SAAIDIN, Connie Hui Jun KONG, Syafiqa AYOB, Zahir ZAKI, Raden Mohd Farhan Helmy RADEN ISMAIL
Abstract. Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels (including gas, coal, and oil) and deforestation, have significantly raised atmospheric CO2 levels since the Industrial Revolution. Sand cement bricks, which were commonly used in construction due to their durability and affordability, were mainly manufactured from cement and sand. Global process emissions from cement production in 2017 amounted to 1.48 ± 0.20 Gt CO2, equivalent to about 4% of emissions from fossil fuels, prompting exploration of alternative materials and methods to enhance sustainability in construction. This study examined the strength and carbonation characteristics of sand-cement bricks incorporating fly ash (FA) and magnesium oxide (MgO) under accelerated carbonation conditions of 50% CO2, 27℃, for 7 and 28 days. Sand-cement bricks with dimensions 215mm x 103mm x 65mm were formulated with FA replacing cement at 20%, 40%, and 60%, along with a fixed 2% MgO content. Compressive strength tests conducted before and after carbonation revealed that a 20% FA replacement with 2% MgO achieved the best balance between strength and carbonation resistance via carbonation depth. R20 sample showed compressive strength of 47.16MPa and 1.24mm of carbonation depth at 28 days, which was the highest compressive strength and lowest carbonation depth among all samples with FA and MgO replacement. Higher FA replacements (40% and 60%) showed reduced early strength but increased carbonation depth, indicating their limited use in load-bearing applications. This study demonstrated the potential of utilizing industrial by-products like FA in sustainable construction while minimizing environmental impacts such as waste accumulation and CO2 emissions.
Keywords
CO2 Curing, Sand-Cement Brick, Coal Fly Ash, Magnesium Oxide
Published online 7/15/2026, 8 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Faisal Sheikh KHALID, Ming Quan CHONG, Syazwi Hakimi SAAIDIN, Connie Hui Jun KONG, Syafiqa AYOB, Zahir ZAKI, Raden Mohd Farhan Helmy RADEN ISMAIL, Strength and Carbonation of Sand Cement Brick Containing Fly Ash as Partial Cement Replacement Under CO2 Curing, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 68, pp 166-173, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904237-22
The article was published as article 22 of the book Green Materials, Processing & Characterization
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] Chow, M. F., & Rosidan, M. a. K. (2020). Study on the Effects of plastic as admixture on the mechanical Properties of Cement-Sand Bricks. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering, 713(1), 012016. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/713/1/012016
[2] Andrew, R. M. (2018). Global CO2 emissions from cement production, 1928–2017. Earth System Science Data, 10(4), 2213–2239. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-2213-2018
[3] Abdalqader, A., Jin, F., & Al-Tabbaa, A. (2019). Performance of magnesia-modified sodium carbonate-activated slag/fly ash concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites, 103, 160–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2019.05.007
[4] IPCC. (2005). Carbon dioxide capture and storage. In B. Metz, O. Davidson, H. de Coninck, M. Loos, & L. Meyer (Eds.), Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/report/special-report-on-carbon-dioxide-capture-and-storage/
[5] Wang, D., Noguchi, T., & Nozaki, T. (2019). Increasing efficiency of carbon dioxide sequestration through high-temperature carbonation of cement-based materials. Journal of Cleaner Production, 238, 117930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117930
[6] Sequeira, L., Forero, J., Bravo, M., Evangelista, L., & De Brito, J. (2023). Durability of Concrete with Partial Replacement of Portland Cement by Incorporating Reactive Magnesium Oxide and Fly Ash. Materials, 16(7), 2670. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16072670
[7] Supriya, J., & Raut, A. (2021). Performance Parameter Analysis of Magnesia based cement Products – a review. IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering, 1197(1), 012078. https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899x/1197/1/012078
[8] Yang, X. Q., Wang, Z., Song, J. G., & Zhong, L. (2022). Effect of sintering AIDS on performance of manganese tailings permeable bricks. Diffusion and Defect Data, Solid State Data. Part B, Solid State Phenomena/Solid State Phenomena, 331, 221–226. https://doi.org/10.4028/p-2u7ps0
[9] Salem, N., Brar, K. K., Asgarian, A., Kaur, K., Magdouli, S., & Perreault, N. N. (2025) Advancements in Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS): A Comprehensive review of technologies and prospects. Clean Technologies, 7(4): 109. https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol7040109
[10] Soomro, M. H., Abdullah, U. R., Ghani, W. a. W. a. K., & Kusin, F. M. (2025) Mineral carbonation pathways in accelerating sequestration capacity of industrial waste as feedstock for long-term carbon capture and storage. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 13(5): 118696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2025.118696
[12] Zhang, X., Liu, S., Wu, K., & Yuan, Z. (2024). Experimental investigation into the self-carbonation mechanism of magnesium oxide carbon sequestration foamed concrete. Cement and Concrete Composites, 148, 105486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2024.105486
[13] Oke, J. A., & Abuel-Naga, H. (2025). Compressive strength properties of green bricks cured with hydration and accelerated carbonation curing. Emergent Materials, 8(7), 5961–5977. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42247-025-01220-7
[14] Raihan, A. (2025) Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in the context of earth energy systems: A multidisciplinary review. Geoscience Frontiers, 16(6): 102177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2025.102177
[15] Khalid, F. S., Chong, M. Q., Kong, C. H. J., Saaidin, S. H., Ayob, S., Altowayti, W. A. H., Juki, M. I., & Shahidan, S. (2025) Impact of CO2 Curing on the Mechanical Properties of Cement Sand Bricks Incorporating Magnesium Oxide. Journal of Advanced Research in Micro and Nano Engineering, 41(1): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.37934/armne.41.1.19
