In the reinforcement of micro-cracks and soil, cement grouting often suffers from poor injectability due to particle size limitations. While ultra-fine cement produced through physical grinding can address this issue, it significantly increases cost and energy consumption. Moreover, ultra-fine cement is prone to aging when exposed to moisture and CO2 in the air. To address these issues, this study proposes a new approach for in-situ particle size reduction of cement slurry through the mild corrosion of acetic acid. The refining effect of acetic acid on cement particles was investigated, along with its impact on mechanical properties and hydration products. The results show that acetic acid accelerates cement dissolution, promoting early-stage strength development and microstructure formation. The addition of 1.2 wt% acetic acid reduced the D90 particle size of the slurry by 36.4 %. Acetic acid also enhances the release of Ca2+ from clinker, increasing the precipitation of Ca(OH)2, CaCO3, and calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) at early stages, which serves as the primary source of early strength. Additionally, it raises the Ca/Si ratio of the early-formed C-S-H gel. However, excessive acetic acid can inhibit the further development of strength at later stages. The research demonstrates that premixed acetic acid activation is an effective approach for enhancing the performance of cementitious grouting materials, with promising potential to reduce energy consumption associated with physical cement grinding.

Alkali-activated concrete (AAC) is a focal point in green building material research due to its low carbon footprint and superior performance. This study seeks to enhance the impact resistance of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) by elucidating the synergistic mechanisms of alkali activation, nano-modification, and fiber reinforcement. To this end, four mix designs, incorporating NaOH and NaOH-Na2SiO3 systems with 2 % nano-SiO2(NS), were developed and assessed through setting time, compressive strength, drop hammer impact tests, and XRD/ SEM analyses. The NaOH-Na2SiO3 system exhibited a 23.5 % increase in compressive strength over NaOH, achieving 28.41 MPa, while NS refined pore structures, elevating strength to 32.2 MPa; XRD/SEM analyses confirmed mechanisms of pore refinement and interfacial enhancement. In the optimized system, the NT12-C5 formulation, incorporating polypropylene fiber (PPF) and recycled carbon fiber (RCF), exhibited superior impact resistance, with NS enhancing interfacial bonding between carbon fiber and the matrix, resulting in a 47.8 % increase in initial crack impact energy. The Weibull model validated the reliability of impact performance. Furthermore, life cycle assessment revealed that Soil Solidification Rock Recycled aggregate concrete (SSRRAC) substantially reduced carbon emissions compared to ordinary Portland cement (OPC), while maintaining competitive economic costs. This study's innovations include: (1) synergistic optimization of low-carbon AAC performance using NaOH-Na2SiO3 and NS; (2) optimized PPF/RCF formulations promoting the reuse of waste carbon fiber; and (3) application of the Weibull model to overcome conventional statistical constraints. Collectively, these findings establish a theoretical and practical foundation for the global development of sustainable building materials.

In view of the pollution of unpaved road dust in the current mines, this study demonstrated the excellent dust suppression performance of the dust suppressant by testing the dynamic viscosity, penetration depth and mechanical properties of the dust suppressant, and apply molecular dynamics simulations to reveal the interactions between substances. The results showed that the maximum dust suppression rate was 97.75 % with a dust suppressant formulation of 0.1 wt% SPI + 0.03 wt% Paas + NaOH. The addition of NaOH disrupts the hydrogen bonds between SPI molecules, which allows the SPN to better penetrate the soil particles and form effective bonding networks. The SPI molecules rapidly absorb onto the surface of soil particles through electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds. The crosslinking between SPI molecules connects multiple soil particles, forming larger agglomerates. The polar side chain groups in the SPN interact with soil particles through dipole-dipole interactions, further stabilizing the agglomerates and resulting in an enhanced dust suppression effect. Soil samples treated with SPN exhibited higher compressive strength values. This is primarily attributed to the stable network structure formed by the SPN dust suppressant within the soil. Additionally, the SPI molecules and sodium polyacrylate (Paas) molecules in SPN contain multiple active groups, which interact under the influence of NaOH, restricting the rotation and movement of molecular chains. From a microscopic perspective, the SPN dust suppressant further strengthens the interactions between soil particles through mechanisms such as liquid bridge forces, which contribute to the superior dust suppression effect at the macroscopic level.

In the northwestern saline soils and coastal areas, cement soil (CS) materials are inevitably subjected to various factors including salt erosion, dry-wet cycle (DWC), temperature fluctuations and dynamic loading during its service life, which the coupling effect of these unfavourable factors seriously threatened the durability and engineering reliability of CS materials. Additionally, combined with the substantially extensive application prospects of rubber cementitious material, as a resource-efficient civil engineering material and fibre-reinforced composites, consequently, in order to address aforementioned issues, this investigation proposed to consider the incorporation of rubber particles composite basalt fiber (BF) to CS materials as an innovative engineering solution to effectively enhance the mechanical and durability properties of CS materials for prolonging its service life. In this study, sulphate ions were utilized to simulate external erosive environment and basalt fibre rubber cement soil (BFRCS) specimens were subjected to various DWC numbers (0, 1, 4, 7, 11 and 15) in diverse concentrations (0 g/L, 6 g/L and 18 g/L) of Na2SO4 solution, and specimens that had completed the corresponding DWC number were then conducted both unconfined and dynamic compressive strength tests simultaneously to analyze static and dynamic stress-strain curves, static and dynamic compressive strength, apparent morphological deterioration characteristics and energy absorption properties of BFRCS specimens. Furthermore, further qualitative and quantitative damage assessments of pore distribution and microscopic morphology of BFRCS specimens under various DWC sulphate erosion environments were carried out from the fine and microscopic perspectives through pore structure test and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) test, respectively. The test results indicated that the static, dynamic compressive strength and specific energy absorption (SEA) of BFRCS specimens exhibited a slight increase followed by a progressive decline as DWC number increased. Additionally, compared to 4 mm BFRCS specimens, those with 0.106 mm rubber particle size demonstrated more favorable resistance to DWC sulphate erosion. The air content, bubble spacing coefficient and average bubble chord length of BFRCS specimens all progressively grew as DWC number increased, while the specific surface area of pores gradually decreased. The effective combination of BF with CS matrix significantly diminished pores and weak areas within specimen, and its synergistic interaction with rubber particles efficiently mitigated the stresses associated with expansive, contraction, crystallization and osmosis subjected by specimen. Simultaneously, more ettringite (AFt) had been observed within BFRCS specimens in 18 g/L sulphate erosive environments. These findings will facilitate the design and construction of CS subgrade engineering in northwestern saline soils and coastal regions, promoting sustainable and durable solutions while reducing the detrimental environmental impact of waste rubber.

This investigation examines the development of titanium slag-flue gas desulfurized gypsum-Portland cement ternary composites (the ternary composites) for the solidification and stabilization of Pb-contaminated soils. The efficacy of the ternary composites is systematically evaluated using a combination of experimental methodologies, including mechanical properties such as unconfined compressive strength, stress-strain behavior and elastic modulus, leaching toxicity, XRD, TG-DTG, FTIR, XPS, and SEM-EDS analyses. The results indicate that the mechanical properties of Portland cement solidified Pb-contaminated soils are inferior to those of Portland cement solidified Pb-free soil, both in the early and later stages. However, the mechanical properties of Pbcontaminated soils solidified by the ternary composites are superior to those of the ternary composites solidified Pb-free soils in the early stage but somewhat inferior in the later stage. The ternary composites significantly decrease the leached Pb concentrations of solidified Pb-contaminated soils, which somewhat increase with the Pb content and with the pH value decrease of the leaching agent. Moreover, with much lower carbon emissions index and strength normalized cost, the ternary composites have comparable stabilization effects on Pbcontaminated soils to Portland cement, suggesting that the ternary composites can serve as a viable alternative for the effective treatment of Pb-contaminated soils. Characterization via TG-DTG and XRD reveals that the primary hydration products of the ternary composite solidified Pb-contaminated soils include gypsum, ettringite, and calcite. Furthermore, FTIR, XPS and SEM-EDS analyses demonstrate that Pb ions are effectively adsorbed onto these hydration products and soil particles.

This study developed a novel geopolymer (RM-SGP) using industrial solid wastes red mud and slag activated by sodium silicate, aiming to remediate composite heavy metal contaminated soil. The effects of aluminosilicate component dosage, alkali equivalent, and heavy metal concentration on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), toxicity leaching characteristics, resistivity, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC) of RM-SGP solidified composite heavy metal contaminated soil were systematically investigated. Additionally, the chemical composition and microstructural characteristics of solidified soil were analyzed using XRD, FTIR, SEM, and NMR tests to elucidate the solidification mechanisms. The results demonstrated that RM-SGP exhibited excellent solidification efficacy for composite heavy metal contaminated soil. Optimal performance occurred at 15 % aluminosilicate component dosage and 16 % alkali equivalent, achieving UCS >350 kPa and compliant heavy metal leaching (excluding Cd in high-concentration groups). Acid/alkaline leaching tests revealed distinct metal behaviors: Cu/Cd decreased progressively, while Pb initially declined then rebounded. Microstructural analysis indicated that RM-SGP generated abundant hydration products (e.g., C-A-S-H, N-A-S-H gels), which acted as cementitious substances wrapping soil particles and filling and connecting pores, thereby increasing the soil's compactness and improving the solidification effect. Furthermore, heavy metal ions were solidified through adsorption, encapsulation, precipitation, ion exchange, and covalent bond et al., transforming their active states into less bioavailable forms, proving novel insights into the remediation of composite heavy metal contaminated soils and the resource utilization of industrial solid wastes.

The main problem in expansive soil treatment with steel slag (SS) is the relatively slow hydration reaction that occurs during the initial period. To circumvent this, SS-treated expansive soil activated by metakaolin (MK) under an alkaline environment was investigated in this study. Based on a series of tests on the engineering properties of the treated soil, it can be reported that SS could enhance the strength and compressibility of expansive soil, with strength increasing by approximately 108 % for SS contents exceeding 10 % compared to 3 % lime-treated soil, and the compression index reducing by 20 %. Further addition of MK plays a dual role, enhancing strength for higher SS content while excessive MK leads to strength reduction due to insufficient pozzolanic reactions and hydration product transformation. Expansive and shrinkage behaviors are notably improved, with a 5 % increase in SS content reducing the free swelling ratio by 0.66 %-5.9 %, and the combination of 15 % SS and 6 % MK achieving a nearly 300 % reduction in the linear shrinkage ratio. Microstructural analysis confirms the formation of hydration gels, densification of the soil structure, and reduced macropores, validating the enhanced mechanical and shrinkage resistance properties of the SS-MK-treated expansive soil. Additionally, to develop predictive models for mechanical and the content of hardening agents (SS and MK), the experimental data are processed utilizing a backpropagation neural network (BPNN). The results of BPNN modeling predict the mechanical properties perfectly, and the correlation coefficient (R) approaches up to 0.98.

Freeze-thaw cycles pose a serious threat to the protection and preservation of earthen sites. To investigate the effects of freeze-thaw cycles on the shear strength and permeability of site soil, this study took artificially prepared site soil as the research object. Through triaxial shear tests and permeability tests, the strength and permeability characteristics of site soil under different sticky rice slurry content, sticky rice slurry density and freeze-thaw cycles were analyzed. In addition, the mineral composition, chemical structure, and microstructural characteristics of the samples were investigated by combining X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests. The results showed that the addition of sticky rice slurry could increase the shear strength and decrease the permeability coefficient of the soil, while the opposite effect was exhibited after freeze-thaw cycle. The optimum ratio of loess to sticky rice slurry was 95:5, and the optimum density of sticky rice slurry was 1.04 g/cm3. The addition of sticky rice slurry and the increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles did not significantly change the mineral composition of the soil. The SEM results showed that the morphology and arrangement of soil particles became complex after freeze-thaw cycle, the inter-particle connections became loose, and the pore morphology became irregular. The surface porosity of the soil increased, and the proportion of large and medium pores increased. The directionality of the pores was enhanced, and the complexity of the pores increased. The pore arrangement became relatively stable after 15 freeze-thaw cycles. These findings can provide a reference for the restoration of ancient sites in loess areas.

A two-lift gradient design for airport pavements has been proposed to mitigate the functional degradation, especially the salt-frost (S-F) damage induced by deicing slat fluids. Herein, this study focuses on elucidating the mechanism and improvement of incorporating mineral admixtures in the development of a novel S-F resistant surface concrete material, which is of great significance for delaying the functional deterioration of pavement surface in northern China. The results indicated that the filling effect and secondary hydration reaction between the fly ash (FA) and silica fume (SF) and cement hydration products results in a dense spatial network structure, effectively reducing porosity and optimizing pore structure. It was found that SF can effectively improve the frost resistance and salt corrosion resistance of cement mortar, while the influence of FA depends on its content and environmental conditions. The incorporation of FA and SF significantly enhanced the structural density of cement concrete and reduced chloride ion permeability. The improvement in impermeability is most pronounced when both FA and SF are used in combination. In addition, a fitting equation between the admixture content and chloride ion permeability has been established, demonstrating good fitting results. In non-frozen saline soil areas, a large amount of FA or SF could be incorporated; in seasonally frozen areas, the priority should be given to SF to ensure salt corrosion resistance and frost resistance. The findings of this study provide a scientific basis for sustainable airport pavement construction in northern China.

Solidified soil (SS) is widely applied for resource utilization of excavated soil (ES), however the waste solidified soil (WSS) may pose environmental hazards in future because of its high pH (>10). WSS is unsuitable for landfill but can be raw materials for preparing recycled solidified soil (RSS) with better mechanical properties than SS. This investigation used OPC and alkali-activated slag (AAS) as binders to solidify ES and WSS and prepare RSS. The mechanical properties of RSS were experimentally verified to be better than SS, increased by over 76 %. The mechanism is that the clay particles in WSS have been solidified to form sand-like particles or adhere to natural sand, resulting in increasing content of sand-sized particles, and the residual clay particles undergo cation exchange under the high pH and Ca2 + content, resulting in a decrease in zeta potential, reducing diffusion layer thickness. As a result, the flowability of RSS increases under the same liquid to solid ratio. The residual unreacted binder particles and high pH in WSS are beneficial for the early and final compressive strength increase of RSS, which allows preparing RSS with lower cost and carbon emission. Finally, the utilization of WSS has significant environmental benefits.