The use of a clay including: less than 25% of kaolinite; and at least 20% of muscovite and/or illite; the muscovite and/or illite/kaolinite weight ratio being greater than 1, for the preparation of a pozzolanic material.

The invention generally relates to a method of making a plastic aggregate, and its use to make concrete products. The aggregate is formed by providing a granulated waste plastic material, introducing the granulated waste plastic material into an extruder having a die, the die having a ratio of die nozzle open area to die land area of about 1:10 to about 1:40, and extruding the granulated waste plastic material through the extruder to generate an extruded plastic aggregate. The method can include the presence of controlled cooling, the addition of additives and treatment of the surface of the aggregate to produce a desired aggregate that can be used to make a concrete product with desired properties, such as compressive strength and weight.

Disclosed are a marine ecological engineering construction method, an asphalt cement-based coating, and a preparation method thereof. The asphalt cement-based coating can make discarded concrete have the capacity of inducing the settlement of sessile organisms, achieve the purpose of using discarded concrete to construct ecological engineering, and has the characteristics of discarded object recycling and marine ecological restoration.

A mortar composition, which includes (i) a treated palm oil fuel ash, wherein the treated palm oil fuel ash is the only binder present, (ii) a fine aggregate, (iii) an alkali activator containing an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate, and (iv) aluminum hydroxide as a strength enhancer. A cured mortar made from the mortar composition is also disclosed with advantageous compressive strength properties.

A mortar composition, which includes (i) a treated palm oil fuel ash, wherein the treated palm oil fuel ash is the only binder present, (ii) a fine aggregate, (iii) an alkali activator containing an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate, and (iv) aluminum hydroxide as a strength enhancer. A cured mortar made from the mortar composition is also disclosed with advantageous compressive strength properties.

Granules for a roof coating, wherein said granules comprise particles that have a coating, wherein said coating comprises at least one layer of an inorganic powder in a binder, wherein said inorganic powder has a d50 grain size of from 0.5 to 25 μm, and wherein a hydrophobizing and/or oleophobizing agent is present on said coating.

A light weight geopolymer concrete, having a specific gravity less than 2.0, more typically between 1 and 1.3, is provided that has compressive strength comparable to or greater than ordinary Portland concrete. The light weight geopolymer concrete has low shrinkage, expansion, and cracking, and substantially no loss of compressive strength when exposed to high temperatures of 800° C. or greater, as would occur in a fire. To be useful as a load bearing member for general applications, such as residential housing, the compressive strength of the light-weight geopolymer concrete should be at least 10 MPa, preferably greater than 12 MPa, for example greater than 15 MPa. For more demanding uses, the compressive strength should be near or at the compressive strength of concrete, that is, greater than 20 MPa, preferably greater than 30 MPa, and optimally greater than 35 MPa. To be useful during and after a fire, the strength must not be reduced by more than 20%, preferably not less than 10%, optimally not reduced at all when exposed to heat up to 800° C. Embodiments of the invention include low-density high-temperature-resistant geopolymer concrete which increases load bearing strength when exposed to temperatures above 400° C., preferably at 800° C. Key constituents for forming most embodiments include a geopolymer source such as fly ash, a cement-coated expanded vermiculite, a fiber such as wollastonite, and soluble silicates such as alkali silicates.

The present disclosure relates to the building industry and in particular to a block for use in automated building construction. In one aspect, the block comprises a generally cuboid body having a top and a base, a length extending between a pair of opposed ends, and a width extending between a pair of opposed sides; the body including a plurality of hollow cores extending from said top to said base, and arranged in a row between said opposed ends; wherein each core has a rectilinear cross-sectional shape; and wherein the thickness of the block between each pair of adjacent cores is at least double the thickness of the block on all other sides of each core, so that the block is divisible into a plurality of substantially identical block portions, each portion including four walls of substantially uniform wall thickness about its core.

A mortar composition, in particular for preparing a viscoelastic structure and/or a fire barrier, including: a) 15-50 wt.-% of a hydraulic binder, b) 5-35 wt.-% of lightweight aggregates, c) 5-25 wt. % of further aggregates which have a particle density that is higher than the particle density of the lightweight aggregates, and d) 10-50 wt.-% of a polymer.

What are described are a process for producing an insulating product for the construction materials industry or an insulating material as intermediate for production of such a product, and a corresponding insulating material/insulating product. Also described are the use of a matrix encapsulation method for production of composite particles in the production of an insulating product for the construction materials industry or of an insulating material as intermediate for production of such a product, and the corresponding use of the composite particles producible by means of a matrix encapsulation method.