Brown sugar enhancing strength of corn stalk biomass bricks

In order to enhance the strength of corn stalk biomass brick, corn stalk fiber, calcium hydroxide, and brown sugar water solution were mixed and moulded into biomass brick. The corn stalk fiber content was 15 wt% and the calcium hydroxide content was 85 wt% in bricks. Brown sugar water was added to calcium hydroxide at 1 wt% of the calcium hydroxide content. Compressive strength and flexural strength increased with the increasing concentration of brown sugar water solution. Moisture content, density, and drying shrinkage rates were not affected significantly by the concentration of brown sugar water solution. But compressive strength, flexural strength, and tensile strength were affected significantly by the concentration of brown sugar water solution. Compared with the control brick, the compressive strength increased by 51.03%; flexural strength increased by 64.24%; tensile strength increased by 40.91%. Therefore, brown sugar could significantly enhance the compressive strength, flexural strength, and tensile strength of biomass brick. The reason was that brown sugar promoted calcium hydroxide to form more calcium carbonate. The presence of brown sugar helped CO2 diffuse inside the bricks because slow carbonation of the brick surface significantly delayed pore plugging around the surface of the bricks. The research results provided the scientific base for brown sugar enhancing the strength of corn stalk biomass brick and it was interesting to use corn stalk effectively. It was of great significance to the application of sugar adhesives and the research and development of organic/inorganic composite building materials.