Development of sustainable cementitious materials by using biochar

Concrete is the construction material most widely used in the world and the huge volumes produced every year have a high im-pact on environment. In this context, there is a growing interest in developing green cementitious materials able to address the ecological issues. This work focuses on the feasibility of using biochar, the solid by-product resulting from biomass pyrolysis, as carbon sequestrating additive in cementitious materials, with the aim of not diminishing their structural performance or even ob-taining enhanced mechanical properties. Since biochar is mainly composed by carbon, it is able to capture and store carbon in buildings - in a stable form - for decades. Furthermore, biochar is usually disposed of as waste; thus, its employment in the build-ing industry would promote waste reutilization, by increasing the recycling rate. In order to assess the structural efficiency of bio-char-added cementitious materials, their mechanical properties are here properly investigated.