Mechanical and thermal properties of lightweight concrete incorporated with activated carbon as coarse aggregate

Previous research showed that activated carbon can be used as cement and aggregate replacement for concrete. In this study, the potential application of activated carbon as coarse aggregate replacement was investigated. The activated carbon was produced from oil palm kernel shell (OPKS), an abundant agricultural waste in Malaysia through pyrolysis and activation process. Characterization results showed OPKS activated carbon has higher water absorption due to its porous structure and better thermal stability at elevated temperature compared to OPKS. Four mixes of OPKS activated carbon concrete were prepared based on the mix designs of OPKS concrete. The experimental results showed that concrete with OPKS activated carbon demonstrated higher workability, density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and resistance to water penetration than OPKS concrete. The OPKS activated carbon concrete could be classified as lightweight concrete with a compressive strength up to about 50 MPa. Thermal conductivity of concrete with OPKS activated carbon was higher than the OPKS concrete.