IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i9p4003-d1645618.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pistachio Shell Ash in Agro-Waste Cement Composites: A Pathway to Low-Carbon Binders

Author

Listed:
  • Mahmut Durmaz

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Siirt University, Siirt 56000, Türkiye)

  • Murat Doğruyol

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Siirt University, Siirt 56000, Türkiye)

Abstract

This study evaluates pistachio shell ash (PSA) as a sustainable cement substitute and investigates its effect on setting time, strength and microstructure. In this study, pistachio shell ash (PSA) obtained from the kiln flue gas filter of pistachio shells burnt at 300–350 °C in an industrial kiln was used. PSA was substituted for ordinary Portland cement (OPC) at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30%. PSA increased the SO 3 value in the cement mortars, so 5% PSA substitution delayed the cement setting time by up to 174%. However, it increased the water requirement of the cement mortar by about 2%. While it increased the early strength (22% on day 1, 15% on day 2, and 5% on day 7), the 28-day strength decreased slightly (about 4.5%) due to low pozzolanic activity. Microstructural analyses such as SEM-EDX and XRD showed that the calcite and gypsum phases of PSA provided early strength gains, but there were long-term losses. With a 5% replacement rate, PSA provides significant environmental benefits by reducing CO 2 emissions while maintaining optimum mechanical performance and supports the circular economy through the efficient use of agricultural waste.

Suggested Citation

  • Mahmut Durmaz & Murat Doğruyol, 2025. "Pistachio Shell Ash in Agro-Waste Cement Composites: A Pathway to Low-Carbon Binders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4003-:d:1645618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4003/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4003/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4003-:d:1645618. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.