Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Incorporation of sand-based breathing bricks with foamed concrete and

humidity control materials
Xuezheng Wang a, Wenyuan Gao a,⇑, Shuang Yan a,⇑, Meihong Niu b,⇑, Guishan Liu a, Hongshun Hao a
a
School of Textile and Material Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China
b
School of Light Industry and Chemical Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

Accurate porous parameters of

foamed concrete were characterized
and quantified.

Successful curve simulation between
the porous parameters and physi-
mechanical properties of SBB.

A novel Porous systems composing of
foamed concrete and HCMs enhances
the humidity controlling performance
of SBB.

SBB expanded the practical
application of foamed concrete.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Foamed concrete with five densities were prepared without sintering, then compounded with the humid-
Received 21 November 2017 ity controlling slurry to prepare the sand-based breathing bricks (SBB). The accurate porous parameters
Received in revised form 20 April 2018 of foamed concrete were characterized and quantified by Image-pro Plus 6.0 and Matlab 2015a. The effect
Accepted 23 April 2018
of these porous parameters on the properties of the SBB were investigated. The optimal physical,
mechanical and humidity controlling properties of SBB were achieved with FCa9 of foamed Concrete.
The suitable dry density was 910 kg/m3 with higher compressive strength of 5.25 MPa, thermal conduc-
Keywords:
tivity was 0.08 W(mK)1, the max moisture absorption was 272.51 g/m2 and max moisture desorption
Porous structure
Foamed concrete
was 143.09 g/m2, which can be used as a wall material for partitioning space to improve indoor air
Sand-based breathing bricks quality.
Physi-mechanical properties Ó 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Humidity-control performances

1. Introduction the construction industry. In recent years, the porous structure of

Foamed concrete was known as lightweight concrete. Owing to
the porous structure, it has the advantages of high porosity, low
density, noise isolation, energy absorption, blast mitigation etc.
[1–4]. Therefore, foamed concrete is much favored and used by
⇑ Corresponding authors at: No. 1 Qinggongyuan, Ganjingzi District, Dalian
116034, China.
E-mail addresses: dlgwy64@163.com (W. Gao), yanye150@outlook.com (S. Yan),
nmh414@163.com (M. Niu).
foamed concrete has the following applications: Bose et al. [5]
experimental results showed that the noise reduction coefficient
of cement matrix porous material was increased by 100%, with
40% volume fraction addition of cenospheres. Zhang et al. [6]
exhibited the geopolymer foamed concrete acoustic absorption
coefficients of 0.7–1.0 at 40–150 Hz. Zhao et al. [7] mixed the poly-
styrene foam into the cement-based foamed concrete, effectively
relieving the dynamic response of the load caused by explosion,
with obvious energy absorption and damping effect. Although
the above studies had expanded the practical application of

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.04.186
0950-0618/Ó 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
188 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195

foamed concrete, there was little research on the combination of
foamed concrete and humidity control materials (HCMs).
HCMs can adsorb or release moisture automatically without
any power source or mechanical equipment due to its sensitivity
to the variations of ambient relative humidity (RH) [8]. Indoor pol-
lution is becoming a serious problem due to the use of decoration
materials which usually contains volatile gases such as formalde-
hyde, benzene, xylene and other Total Volatile Organic Compounds
harmful gases [9]. A porous system (Including both macroscopic
and microscopic pores) which could both regulate humidity bal-
ance and absorb harmful gases would be a superior material to
improve indoor air quality. However, there is little research in this
area so far.
Foamed concrete is a high porosity material. Nambiar et al. [10]
and Liu et al. [11] used the rheometer, scanning electron micro-
scope, vacuum water saturator instrument and image analysis
software to analyze the porous parameters of foamed concrete.
Ye [12] established the relationship between pore structure and
permeability through numerical simulation; Yang et al. [13] iden-
tified a good linear correlation between porosity and diffusion
coefficient of concrete; Han et al. [14] found that the microstruc-
ture of concrete was important for predicting the durability and
transport properties of concrete; Akthar et al. [2] explored that
the high porosity of the foamed concrete is excellent in thermal
conductivity, but poor in compressive strength. The thermal con-
ductivity is a function of the pore structure and the dry density
in foamed concrete, and the porous structure has a great influence
on the thermal conductivity [15,16].
The above discussions show that the porous structure of foamed
concrete has a significant effect on its performance. To study the
effect of porous parameters on the performance of sand-based
breathing bricks (SBB), five densities of foamed concrete contain-
ing the desert sand were prepared. Then, humidity controlling
slurry was prepared with humidity control materials. SBB was
made by compounding humidity controlling slurry and foamed
concrete. Finally, the relation between the porous parameters
and the physi-mechanical properties were analyzed, and the effect
of these parameters on the humidity controlling performance of
SBB were discussed.
2. Experiment
2.1. Materials
FCa12, respectively, which present dry density of foamed concrete is 800, 900,
1000, 1100 and 1200 kg/m3. To achieve these design dry densities, the various
raw material ratios, w/c ratios and additives of these mixes were determined, by tri-
als, ensuring the stability of the wet foamed concrete mix and also that the mea-
sured density nearly equal to the design dry density [10,17]. The fly ash was
carried out by planetary ball mill (QM-ISP4, Nanjing University Instrument Factory,
Jiangsu Province, China), the mass ratio of fly ash and iron ball was set to be 2:3 and
the bill speed was set up as 25 r/min for 2 h (Dry grinding, iron cans). The granular-
ity greater than 180 lm were removed after ball milling. The fly ash, desert sand,
cement, porous admixture and foam stabilizer were weighted and mixed. The detail
properties of each sample was shown in Table 1. Next, the water reducing agent and
water were added to the mixture and the mixture was stirred at a rate of 35 r/min
for 120 s to generate a homogeneous paste. Then, foamed agent was put in the paste
and stirred at the same speed for 90 s to produce a foamed mortar. Finally, the
foamed mortar was injected into a mold (100  100  100 mm) and statically cured
(During curing, the foamed concrete in the mold only need to static in the indoor air
without other operations) for 24 h. The foamed concrete was cured under standard
conditions (20 ± 2 °C, RH >95%) for 28 d after demolding, then the preparation of
foamed concrete was accomplished. Microscopic images of foamed concrete sur-
faces are shown in Fig. 1 by optical digital microscope (KH-8700, Shanghai Spec-
trum Qian Optical Instrument Co., Ltd., China).
2.2.2. Preparation of humidity controlling slurry
In order to stabilize the HCMs suspended in water, we did a lot of experiments
about the humidity controlling slurry before this paper, and obtained the optimal
experimental process as follows:
Ceramic balls: 800 °C diatomite: Deionized water: PEG-400: Plant oil mass ratio
were set to be 150:20:80:1:1. The ball mill speed was set up as 30 r/min for 30 min
(wet grinding, ceramic cans) by planetary ball mill (QM-ISP4, Nanjing University
Instrument Factory) to generate a mixed slurry. Then, the slurry was passed
through 180 lm sieves (i.e., 100 meshes) to purify and refine slurry. Meanwhile,
PAM and PVA were used to configure a solution with a mass fraction of 8% and
6%. Next, PAM and PVA solution were added to the slurry in an amount of 5% and
10%. Finally, the compound slurry stirred at a rate of 30 r/min for 3 h, and the
humidity controlling slurry was completed.
2.2.3. Composite of SBB
The irregular part of the foamed concrete was cut off after curing for 28 d. The
remaining part was vertically cut into pieces of 20  100  100 mm. Then, the
foamed concrete pieces were immersed into the humidity controlling slurry, mean-
while the slurry was maintained at a rate of 20 r/min rotation. After the foamed
concrete were immersed in humidity control slurry for 12 h, taken it out and placed
it in a dry box (DHG-9003, Shanghai Xi Wei Science Instrument Co., Ltd.) for drying
(80 ± 2 °C for 6–8 h). After that, the complete SBB were prepared.
2.3. Characterization and measurements
2.3.1. Physical and mechanical properties
The dry density (qg) and compressive strength (P) tests of sample complied
with the Chinese Foamed Concrete standard (JG/T266-2011) [18].
qg ¼ m=ða  b  cÞ ð1:1Þ

The cement (PO 42.5 R) was provided by Dalian small Noda Cement Co., Ltd, P ¼ F=ða  bÞ ð1:2Þ
Dalian City, Liaoning Province, China. Desert sand was obtained from Zhangwu
County, Liaoning Province, China. The particle size D10 is 37 lm, D50 is 125 lm where m is the quality of the sample (kg), qg is the dry density of the sample (kg/
and D90 is 253 lm after remove particle size greater than 830 lm. The fly ash m3), F is the maximum pressure of the sample can withstand (N), a, b, and c are
was supplied by a power plant lay in Linjiang City, China. Porous admixture (Third the length, width and height of the sample (mm). Each set of data is measured three
grade raw diatomite) and Diatomite (sintering at 800 °C, D10 = 6.04 lm, D50 = times and averaged.
22.75 lm, D90 = 49.15 lm) were supplied by a company located in Linjiang City, The porosity (Vk) of the specimen was measured by referring to [19]:
China.
Vk ¼ ð1  qg=qtÞ  100% ð1:3Þ
The foamed agent (H2O2) (x = 30%, AR, Tianjin Kemiou Chemical Reagent Co.,
Ltd, China) and the water reducing agent (Dalian Sika Building Materials Co., Ltd.
China) were purchased in the market. The foam stabilizer (C36H70CaO4, CP) and
Polyethylene Glycol 400 (PEG-400, HO(CH2CH2O)nH, AR) were obtained from Tian- Table 1
jin Guangfu Fine Chemical Research Institute, Tianjin City, China. Polyacrylamide Mix proportions of raw materials.
(PAM, C3H5NO, AR, Shandong West Asia Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, China) were
bought as the dispersant. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA, (CH2CHOH)n) was purchased in Mixes
the market (AR, Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Co., Ltd, Beijing City, China). The plant FCa8 FCa9 FCa10 FCa11 FCa12
oil (corn) was used as defoamer (Which was used to prevent the production of bub-
bles during ball milling of the HCMs). Design dry density (kg/m3) 800 900 1000 1100 1200
Cement (kg/m3) 280 379 368 338 336
Fly ash (kg/m3) 175 189 147 101 168
2.2. Preparation of SBB
Desert sand (kg/m3) 280 152 221 270 224
Porous admixture (kg/m3) 14 30 15 41 22
The preparation of SBB was consisted of three parts: the preparation of foamed
W/C ratio 0.46 0.49 0.46 0.55 0.49
concrete, the preparation of humidity controlling slurry and the composite of SBB.
Water (kg/m3) 211 279 237 246 250
Foamed agent (kg/m3) 30 26.25 18.75 15 7.5
2.2.1. Preparation of foamed concrete Water reducing agent (kg/m3) 1.75 1.25 3.25 1.75 1.25
Five kinds of mixtures were prepared and the design dry density was set up to Foam stabilizer (kg/m3) 2.75 1.25 2.25 1.75 2.25
be 800, 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 kg/m3, marked as FCa8, FCa9, FCa10, FCa11 and
 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195 189

X
n
plus 6.0 image analysis software. The specific operation of the software is as
qt ¼ t i  qi ð1:4Þ
follows:
i¼1

where Vk is the porosity of the sample (%), qg, qt, qi are the dry density of the spec-
imen, the theoretical density of the solid phase, the density of the raw materials (kg/
m3), and ti is the volume proportion of the mix (%), n represents the total types of
raw materials.
The thermal conductivity of the sample is measured by a thermal conductivity
tester (YBF-3, Hangzhou Dahua Instrument Manufacturing Co., Ltd.).
2.3.2. Porous parameters
In order to express the pore structure of foamed concrete more clearly, we made
black and white binarization on the microscopic pictures according to the Fig. 1 by
software (Image-pro plus 6.0). The black and white binarization of the general pore
is shown in Fig. 2, connected pore see Fig. 3.
According to Fig. 2, porous parameters (e.g., pore diameter and distribution, cir-
cularity factor, connected pore rate) were obtained directly by using the Image-pro
(1) Open the software and select the picture to open in the ‘‘File” menu.
(2) Calibrate the unit size on the opened picture.
(3) Click ‘‘Count and measure objects” in the toolbar will pop up a dialog
(Count/Size). First select the options to be measured for Area, Diameter,
Perimeter and Size in the ‘‘Select measurements” of the dialog box
(Count/Size) and click ‘‘OK” button; Then choose the button (Select colors)
in the dialog box will pop up another dialog box, select the pipette to cali-
brate the pore on the picture and close the dialog box; Finally, click ‘‘Count”
in the dialog box (Count/Size) to count the pore parameters in the image.
The calculated data can be found in the drop-down menu (View) in the dia-
log box (Count/Size).
2.3.3. Humidity controlling performance
The moisture absorption and desorption of the SBB were measured by the
method of JC/T 2002-2009 [20], the test procedure is explained as follows:

Fig. 1. Surface images (28  21 mm) of the foamed concrete at different density levels FCa8 (a), FCa9 (b), FCa10 (c), FCa11 (d), FCa12 (e); and micro-images of HCMs sintering
at 800 °C (f).

Fig. 2. Binary images of general pore (28  21 mm) of the foamed concrete at different density levels.

Fig. 3. Binary images of connected pore (28  21 mm) of the foamed concrete at different density levels.
190 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195

(1) Relative humidity (RH) and temperature of the Constant Temperature and area of the sample (m2), ma and md are the quality of the sample at each RH (g) (0 
Humidity Box (HBY-40B, Xiyi instrument building materials factory, Wuxi f  4, 5  d  7).
city, China) were set as (35 ± 2)% and (23 ± 0.5) °C. The SBB was dried to a
constant weight (Constant weight was marked as m0), then, putting it into
the box immediately. After 24 h of curing, the mass of SBB was noted m1.
(2) Gradually increasing the RH of Constant Temperature and Humidity Box, it
3. Results and discussions
was the moisture absorption process of SBB when the samples at a RH in
(55 ± 2)%, (75 ± 2)% and (95 ± 2)%, respectively. The mass of the specimens 3.1. The pore diameter distribution under different density levels
were denoted by m2, m3 and m4 after curing for 24 h at different RH.
(3) The RH was reduced step by step after the moisture absorption process.
Fig. 4 shows the pore diameter distribution and cumulative
When the RH was set as (75 ± 2)%, (55 ± 2)% and (35 ± 2)%, respectively.
The mass of the SBB were marked as m5, m6 and m7 after maintained for frequency of foamed concrete at different density levels derived
24 h at different RH. from Fig. 2. It can be seen that the pore diameter of the two densi-
ties FCa12 and FCa11 (Fig. 4e, d) are mainly distributed in the range
The moisture absorption and moisture desorption of samples was determined
by the following formula: of 100–1000 lm and 100–700 lm. Besides, there is no double-pore
distribution peak and the pore diameter distribution is concen-
Wf ¼ ðma  m0 Þ=A ð0 6 f 6 4Þ ð1:5Þ trated and similar to the normal distribution. In contrast, the pore
diameter distribution of FCa10 (Fig. 4c), FCa9 (Fig. 4b) and FCa8
Wd ¼ ðm4  md Þ=A ð5 6 d 6 7Þ ð1:6Þ
(Fig. 4a) are more dispersed, most of the pore diameter distribution
2
where Wf is the moisture absorption of the specimens (g/m ), Wd is the moisture are distributed in the range of 150–1900 lm, 200–2400 lm and
desorption of the specimens (g/m2), A is moisture absorption or moisture desorption 300–3000 lm, respectively. Moreover, FCa10 exhibits double

Fig. 4. The pore diameter distribution and cumulative frequency FCa8 (a), FCa9 (b), FCa10 (c), FCa11 (d), FCa12 (e), pore diameter cumulative frequency of foamed concrete at
different pore diameters (f).
 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195 191

distribution peak in the range of 150–500 lm and 1350–1900 lm, D90 and D50 parameters are used to indicate the pore diameter
while FCa9 in the range of 200–1000 lm and 1400–2400 lm and distribution of the foamed concrete. As can be seen in Table 2 and
FCa8 in the range of 300–1350 lm and 1800–3000 lm appears Fig. 5, the D90 and D50 parameters decrease as the density
double distribution peak. With the density decreased, it can be increases. The difference between D90 and D50 at the same density
seen that the pore diameter distribution becomes wider (Fig. 4f) (FCa8, FCa9, FCa10, FCa11 and FCa12) was 916 lm, 842 lm, 789
and the double pore distribution peak may appear. lm, 321 lm, and 153 lm, respectively. These data shows that
Porosity calculation formula was shown as formulas (1.3) and the smaller of the density, the wider and disperser of pore diameter
(1.4), the specific data was shown in Table 2. Different density distribution. This result is consistent with the conclusions drawn
levels of porosity are 25.86%, 31.62%, 37.33%, 41.0% and 51.8% from Figs. 2 and 4.
respectively. From the data, it can be seen that as the density
decreases, the porosity increases, resulting in a larger pore diame- 3.2. The circularity factor at different density levels
ter, which indirectly affects the pore diameter distribution. The
increase in the amount of foaming agent will reduce the density, The circularity factor (Scf) is an important parameter of the por-
and the chance of merging between the pores increases [19]. ous structure. The circularity factor is a function of the perimeter
Simultaneously, the proportion of larger pore diameter increases and area of each pore and it was used for calculating the circular
due to the pore diameter distribution becomes wider and the factor as follows [21,22]:
porosity rises, and which caused the double distribution peak
Scf ¼ 4p  ðArea=Perimeter Þ
2
may appear. ð1:7Þ
The value of Scf presents the pore characteristics. When the
Table 2 value is closer to 1, it indicates that the shape of the pore is closer
The porous parameters of selected mixes. to a circle, while, the smaller of the value, the greater irregularity of
the pore [21].
FCa8 FCa9 FCa10 FCa11 FCa12
Fig. 6a and b shows the circularity factor and the cumulative
Design dry density (kg/m3) 800 900 1000 1100 1200
frequency of the porous structure under different densities. Scf10
Dry density (kg/m3) 806 910 1029 1097 1202
Porosity (kg/m3) 51.80 41.06 37.33 31.62 25.86 and Scf50 represent the 10 percentile of the circularity factor value
D50 (lm) 1359 1052 691 657 470 and the median of the circularity factor (Table 3). These values
D90 (lm) 2275 1894 1480 978 623 indicate that as the density increases, the proportion of circular
Connected pore rate (%) 13.29 28.74 10.15 9.26 8.83 pore is increasing. The degree of regularity of the pore is related
to the dry density, this may be due to the result of higher surface
tension at the bubble-mortar interface in the foamed concrete
when the bubbles are small [22]. In all density levels, FCa11 has
the larger circularity factor (Scf10 = 0.39, Scf50 = 0.74) and the
higher water-cement ratio (w/c = 0.55), this is because greater w/
c ratio will lead to the pore more rounded [11]. This due to the
gradual decrease in relative viscosity of cement paste as the w/c
ratio (Less than optimal w/c) increased, thus weakening the
bubble-maintaining capacity of the paste. Meanwhile, the fric-
tional force in the paste reduced, rendering the pores increasingly
round [23].

3.3. The effect of porous parameters on the Physi-mechanical

performance

Fig. 7a illustrates the thermal conductivity between foamed

concrete and SBB at different density levels, and the thermal con-
ductivity of the SBB varies between 0.08 W(mK)1 and 0.22 W
Fig. 5. The pore diameters at D50 and D90 under different density levels. (mK)1 under different density levels. The thermal conductivity

Fig. 6. The frequency (a) and cumulative frequency (b) of foamed concrete at different density levels.
192 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195

Table 3 thermal conductivity of SBB is 0.08 W(mK)1 to 0.22 W(mK)1

The circularity factor of selected foamed concrete mixes. and the compressive strength varies from 4.79 MPa to 14.53 MPa.
FCa8 FCa9 FCa10 FCa11 FCa12 The thermal conductivity and compressive strength of SBB are
Scf 10 0.32 0.26 0.33 0.39 0.35 reduced with the increasing of porosity. The increasing of porosity
Scf 50 0.47 0.51 0.65 0.74 0.72 is beneficial to the thermal property of SBB, however, it is harmful
to the mechanical property. In order to further determine the rela-
tion between the porosity and the thermal conductivity and com-
of SBB is lower than foamed concrete, indicating that SBB thermal pressive strength of the SBB, the optimal curve simulation of the
property is better than the foamed concrete. It can be explained thermal conductivity and compressive strength with the porosity
that humidity controlling material (diatomite) is a porous material, were conducted by using the Matlab 2015a software. Fig. 8 shows
there are many interconnected thermal conduction channels in it a strong correlation between porosity and thermal conductivity
[24] that these channels enhance the thermal property of SBB. and compressive strength, with a correlation coefficient of 0.961
However, the humidity-control material was incorporated into and 0.998. When the porosity is 41.06%, the real thermal conduc-
the voids of the foamed concrete, and it has no effect on the struc- tivity is 0.118 W(mK)1, which is higher than the simulated value
ture of the foamed concrete; that the thus compressive strength of of 0.112 W(mK)1, while compressive strength (4.79 MPa) is less
foamed concrete is not affected. than the compressive strength (5.25 MPa) of the porosity at
The thermal conductivity and compressive strength of SBB at 51.80%. This may be due to the largest connected pore rate
different porosities were displayed in Fig. 7b. When the porosity (28.74%) at a porosity of 41.06% (Fig. 3). The result implies that
of foamed concrete varies between 25% and 55%, the range of when the connected pore rate is too large, it will have an impact

Fig. 7. The thermal conductivity of foamed concrete and SBB (a), thermal conductivity (c, e) and compressive strength (d, f) of SSB (b) under different pore parameters.
 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195
on the thermal conductivity and compressive strength. The high
connected pore rate increases the heat transfer in the mesh form
of the porous material [25] and creates more defects in the pore
structure [26]. When the wall material compressive strength is
greater than 5 MPa [27], it can be used as a wall material, so SBB
can be used as wall material for partitioning space when its com-
pressive strength is greater than 5 MPa.
The relationship between the pore diameter and the thermal
conductivity is shown in Fig. 7c. It can be seen from the figure that
the thermal conductivity decreases with the increasing of the pore
diameter. The larger the pore diameter, the lower the proportion of
the solid phase, causing the smaller the proportion of the heat
transferred by heat conduction, and the less the heat transfer
efficiency and the smaller the thermal conductivity [11]. The corre-
lation coefficients of the pore diameter with the thermal conduc-
tivity at D50 and D90 are 0.953 and 0.967. Fig. 7d shows the
correlation between the pore size and the compressive strength.
It shows that the increasing of the pore diameter will reduce the
compressive strength as a whole. The decrease of the volume of
the pore phase and the support force of the frame, resulting in
the decrease in the compressive strength of bricks. The correlation
coefficients of pore diameter at D50 and D90 with compressive
strength are 0.974 and 0.978.
Fig. 7e shows the relationship between the circularity factor
and the thermal conductivity, while Fig. 7f is the correlation
between the circularity factor and the compressive strength. The
correlation coefficients of the circularity factor with the thermal
conductivity at Scf10 and Scf50 are 0.502 and 0.792 and the
correlation coefficients of circularity factor at Scf10 and Scf50 with
compressive strength are 0.630 and 0.811. It can be seen that the
correlation between thermal conductivity and circularity factor is
poor (Correlation coefficient R2=0.502), and the correlation
between compressive strength and circularity factor is also poor
(R2=0.63). Most of the pores in foamed concrete are almost
spherical, so the shape factor has no effect on the conduction of
heat [28], and all air voids are of approximately same shape and
independent of foam volume [10]. So it can be considered that
the circularity factor has no effect on the thermal conductivity
and compressive strength of SBB.
3.4. Effect of porous parameters of SBB on humidity controlling
performance
Humidity controlling performance is one of the most important
properties of SBBs. The value of the humidity control performance
can be expressed by the Moisture absorption and the Moisture
desorption [29,30].
Fig. 8. The average moisture absorption (a) and desorption (b) of A-SBB, A-OCHCS and A-FC at different RH.
193
The highest moisture absorption in the figure is much higher
than the highest moisture desorption at different RH, as some of
the moisture is stored in the porous system of SBB, this is why
breathing brick can balance the humidity of the indoor air. In order
to present the humidity controlling performance of SBB, foamed
concrete, ordinary concrete with humidity controlling slurry and
SBB of average humidity control performance are compared
(Fig. 8), which marked as A-FC, A-OCHCS and A-SBB. The highest
average moisture absorption of SBB (181.98 g/m2) in the figure is
much higher than the foamed concrete (63.39 g/m2) and OCHCS
(92.62 g/m2) under different RH, and the highest average moisture
desorption of SBB (105.26 g/m2) in the figure is bigger than the
foamed concrete (63.75 g/m2) and OCHCS (53.78 g/m2) at different
RH. It implies that SBB is not just a simple mixture of foamed con-
crete and humidity controlling slurry, but a novel porous system
contains the porous structure of foamed concrete (Fig. 1a–e) and
the micro-porous structure (Fig. 1f) of HCMs, which could enhance
the humidity controlling performance of SBB together.
Fig. 9a shows the moisture absorption and Fig. 9b presents
moisture desorption of SBB under different porosities. It is the
overall trend that the humidity controlling performance of SBB
increases with the increasing of porosity. This phenomenon shows
that the porosity is an important factor affecting the humidity con-
trolling performance of SBB. At a certain density, when the RH is
35%, 55%, 75% and 95%, the moisture absorption increased gradu-
ally and the moisture absorption varied from 42.33 g/m2 to
272.51 g/m2, the moisture absorption increases with the increase
of porosity. As shown in Fig. 9b, the relative humidity is 75%, 55%
and 35%, the moisture desorption increases in the range of 31.82
g/m2 to 143.09 g/m2 and the moisture desorption also increases
with the increase of porosity. When the porosity changes between
37.33% and 41.06%, the growth rate of moisture absorption and
moisture desorption is the largest, while the porosity changes from
41.06% to 51.80%, the increase rate of moisture absorption and
moisture desorption is the smallest. Porosity at 41.06% is an inflec-
tion point for humidity-control performance, because when poros-
ity is 41.06%, the connected porosity is the largest (28.74%). It can
be concluded that when the porosity is determined, the greater the
connected pore rate, the more quality of the compound humidity
conditioning material, the stronger the humidity controlling
performance.
The effect of pore diameters on the humidity controlling perfor-
mance (moisture absorption and moisture desorption) of SBB is
shown in Fig. 9c and d. It is evident that the moisture absorption
(Fig. 9c) and moisture desorption (Fig. 9d) increase with the pore
diameter increasing at D50 and D90 in different RH (35%, 55%,
75% and 95%). This result shows that pore diameter plays a
194 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195
Fig. 9. The moisture absorption (a, c, e) and moisture desorption (b, d, f) of SSB under different pore parameters.
significant role in effecting the humidity controlling performance
of SBB. Fig. 9c displays the process of moisture absorption of SBB,
it can been found that the moisture absorption increase rate of
pore diameter at D50 in 470 lm to 657 lm is less than 657 lm
to 691 lm in different RH, and this consequence is the same as
the moisture desorption (Fig. 9d) growth rate of pore diameter at
D50 in the same rang. It is the reason that when the pore diameter
at D50 is 657 lm and D90 is 978 lm, the corresponding density
level is FCa11. However, the circular factor of the a11 (Scf10 =
0.39, Scf50 = 0.74) is the highest and the pore size distribution is
small and concentrated, this effect the combination of foamed con-
crete for the humidity controlling slurry. Whatever the moisture
absorption or moisture desorption, the D50 in the range of 691
to 1052 lm and D90 in the range of 1480 to 1894 lm of the pore
diameter, that growth rate is faster. This could be caused by the
largest connected pore rate (28.74%).
The effect of circularity factor on the humidity controlling per-
formance of SBB are shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 9e displays the effect of
the circularity factor on the moisture absorption in the moisture
absorption process, while Fig. 9f indicates the effect of the circular-
ity factor in the moisture desorption process. It can be seen from
the figures: The regularity of the change between the humidity
controlling performance of SBB and the circularity factor is not
very clear. Means that porosity and pore size are the main factors
affecting the humidity controlling performance of SBB.
4. Conclusion
The foamed concrete with different density levels were pre-
pared at ordinary temperature and pressure, then compounded
with the humidity controlling slurry to prepare the SBB. The opti-
mal physical, mechanical and humidity controlling properties of
SBB were achieved with FCa9 of foamed Concrete. It is possible
to get a lower dry density of 910 kg/m3 with higher compressive
strength of 5.25 MPa, thermal conductivity of 0.08 W(mK)1,
porosity of 41.06%, max moisture absorption of 272.51 g/m2 and
max moisture desorption of 143.09 g/m2. SBB can be used as wall
 X. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 175 (2018) 187–195
material for partitioning space (Compressive strength >5 MPa),
greatly improving indoor air quality, and enhancing the application
of breathing bricks.
Conflict of interest
We promise that there are no conflicts of interest in this article,
otherwise we will bear all consequences.
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the Liaoning S&T Project (No.
2014026008), Department of Education of Liaoning Province S&T
Project (No. LS 2010009), Scientific research general project from
Liaoning Provincial Educational Bureau (No. 71600156) and Youth
Foundation of Dalian Polytechnic University (No. 641668).
References
[1] Z.H. Pan, H.Z. Li, W.Q. Liu, Preparation and characterization of super low
density foamed concrete from Portland cement and admixtures, Constr. Build.
Mater. 72 (2014) 256–261.
[2] F.K. Akthar, J.R.G. Evans, High porosity (>90%) cementitious foams, Constr.
Build. Mater. 40 (2010) 352–358.
[3] C. Kramer, M. Schauerte, T. Muller, Application of reinforced three-phase-
foams in UHPC foam concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 131 (2017) 746–757.
[4] M.A. Othuman, Y.C. Wang, Elevated-temperature thermal properties of
lightweight foamed concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 25 (2011) 705–716.
[5] A. Bose, A. Shukla, V. Tiwari, Acoustic properties of cenosphere reinforced
cement and asphalt concrete, Appl. Acoust. 65 (2004) 263–275.
[6] Z.H. Zhang, J.L. Provis, A. Reid, Mechanical, thermal insulation, thermal
resistance and acoustic absorption properties of geopolymer foam concrete,
Cem. Concr. Compos. 62 (2015) 97–105.
[7] H.L. Zhao, H.T. Yu, Y. Yuan, Blast mitigation effect of the foamed cement-base
sacrificial cladding for tunnel structures, Constr. Build. Mater. 94 (2015) 710–
718.
[8] J.Y. Zheng, J. Shi, Q. Ma, Experimental study on humidity control performance
of diatomite-based building materials, Appl. Therm. Eng. 114 (2017) 450–456.
[9] H.L. Huang, W.G. Lee, F.S. Wu, Emissions of air pollutants from indoor charcoal
barbecue, J. Hazard. Mater. 53 (2016) 198–207.
[10] E.K.K. Nambiar, K. Ramamurthy, Air-void characterisation of foam concrete,
Cem. Concr. Res. 37 (2007) 221–230.
[11] Z.W. Liu, K. Zhao, C. Hu, Effect of water-cement ratio on pore structure and
strength of foam concrete, Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng. (2016) 1–9.
195
[12] G. Ye, Percolation of capillary pores in hardening cement pastes, Cem. Concr.
Res. 35 (2005) 167–176.
[13] C.C. Yang, S.W. Cho, L.C. Wang, The relationship between pore structure and
chloride diffusivity from ponding test in cement-based materials, Mater.
Chem. Phys. 100 (2006) 203–221.
[14] Y.M. Han, S.K. Hong, D.S. Choi, Relationship between average pore diameter
and chloride diffusivity in various concretes, Constr. Build. Mater. 20 (2006)
725–732.
[15] O. Kreft, J. Hausmann, J. Hubalkova, Pore size distribution on the thermal
conductivity of light weight autoclaved aerated concrete, Cem. Wapno. Beton.
(2011) 49–52.
[16] J. Garcia, M.J. Orts, A. Saburit, Thermal conductivity of firing temperature,
Ceram. Int. 36 (2010) 1951–1959.
[17] E.K.K. Nambiar, K. Ramamurthy, Fresh state characteristics of foam concrete, J.
Mater. Civ. Eng. 20 (2008) 111–117.
[18] Chinese National Standard, Foamed Concrete, JG/T 266-2011.
[19] F.K. Juillerat, U.T. Gonzenbach, L.J. Gauckler, Tailoring the hierarchical pore
structure in self-setting particle-stabilized foams made from calcium
aluminate cement, Mater. Lett. 70 (2012) 152–154.
[20] Chinese National Standard, Testing for Water Vapour Adsorption/Desorption
Performance of Building Materials, JC/T 2002-2009.
[21] A.A. Hilal, N.H. Thom, A.R. Dawson, On entrained pore size distribution of
foamed concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 75 (2015) 157–164.
[22] A.A. Hilal, N.H. Thom, A.R. Dawson, On void structure and strength of foamed
concrete made without/with additives, Constr. Build. Mater. 85 (2015) 227–
233.
[23] G. Sang, Y. Zhu, G. Yang, H. Zhang, Preparation and characterization of high
porosity cement-based foam material, Constr. Build. Mater. 91 (2015) 133–
137.
[24] S. Shioya, M. Kohga, T. Naya, Characteristics of ammonium perchlorate-based
composite propellant supplemented with diatomaceous earth, Combust.
Flame 161 (2014) 620–630.
[25] M. Wang, N. Pan, Modeling and prediction of the effective thermal
conductivity of random open-cell porous foams, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 51
(2008) 1325–1331.
[26] A. Atasab, Open hole compressive strength and damage mechanisms:
maximum stress versus Hashin criteria, Plast. Rubber Compos. 44 (2015)
280–290.
[27] Chinese National Standard, Uniform Technical Code for Wall Materials Used in
Building, GB 50574-2010.
[28] R. Cabrillac, B. Fiorio, A. Beaucour, H. Dumontet, S. Ortola, Experimental study
of the mechanical anisotropy of aerated concrete and of the adjustment
parameters on the induced porosity, Constr. Build. Mater. 20 (2006) 286–295.
[29] E.C.D.B. Lustosa, R.R.D. Melo, Production and properties of a new wood
laminated veneer/high-density polyethylene composite board, Mater. Res. 18
(2015) 994–999.
[30] N.A. Nordin, O. Sulaiman, R. Hashim, Effect of adhesive spreading rate on the
performance of laminated compressed oil palm trunks, BioResources 10
(2015) 6378–6387.