| Rice straw ash as supplementary cementitious materials for concrete: optimizing water soaking duration of rice straw to remove alkalis | Ali Zarei, Somayeh Nassiri, Ali Azhar Butt, Iyanuoluwa O. Filani, Gandhar A. Pandit, Sabbie A. Miller & John T. Harvey | Peer-reviewed Article | Materials and Structures | 2025 | In 2016, global cement consumption reached 4.65 billion tonnes, accounting for 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing the reliance on cement is an effective strategy for mitigating cement’s climate impacts. This study investigates rice straw ash (RSA) as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) for concrete. To enable large-scale RSA production via rice straw combustion at bioenergy plants, the effect of varying water-soaking durations (3, 6, 24, and 72 h) on the leaching of salts and heavy metals from rice straw was assessed. | Read Paper | l2s |
| Opportunities for Supplementary Cementitious Materials from Natural Sources and Industrial Byproducts: Literature Insights and Supply Assessment | Somayeh Nassiri,Ali Azhar Butt, Ali Zarei, Souvik Roy,Iyanuoluwa Filani, Gandhar Abhay Pandit, Angel Mateos, Md Mostofa Haider, John T. Harvey | Peer-reviewed Article | Innovative Composite Materials in Construction | 2025 | This paper reviews various emerging alternative SCMs derived from minerals and biomass sources, industrial byproducts, and underutilized waste streams. The paper compiles and evaluates physicochemical properties, reaction mechanisms in cementitious systems, resource availability, supply chain dynamics, technology readiness, the impact on concrete performance, and environmental and cost factors for each candidate SCM. | Read Paper | l2s |
| Lab2Slab2Practice: A Framework for a Faster Implementation of Innovative Concrete Materials and Technology | Nassiri, Somayeh; Harvey, John; Miller, Sabbie | Research Report | | 2025 | Transportation infrastructure construction and maintenance consume energy and finite resources, and have substantial environmental impacts, primarily from the manufacturing of cement, concrete, asphalt, and steel. New feedstock materials and technologies for producing these materials can result in lower life cycle costs, use of local materials, creation of local employment, and reduced environmental impacts. These goals point to the urgent need for adopting innovative alternatives. However, implementation requires confidence on the part of materials producers, contractors, and infrastructure owners that the new materials and technologies can achieve these goals. Implementation demands rigorous testing, risk management, and stakeholder confidence in the engineering performance, environmental benefits, and economic viability of new materials and technologies. This report introduces a structured evaluation framework, "Lab2Slab2Practice", aimed at accelerating the adoption of these new materials and technologies. | Read Report | l2s |
| Lab2Slab Framework Introduction Slide | Nassiri, S., Harvey, J., & Miller, S. | Powerpoint Slide | | 2025 | Lab2Slab2Practice: A Framework for a Faster Implementation of Innovative Concrete Materials and Technology. | Download Slide | l2s |
| Identification of Likely Alternative Supplementary Cementitious Materials in California: A Review of Supplies, Technical Performance in Concrete, Economic, and Climatic Considerations | Nassiri, Somayeh; Butt, Ali A; Mateos, Angel; Roy, Souvik; Filani, Iyanuoluwa; Zarei, Ali; Pandit, Gandhar; Haider, Md Mostofa; Harvey, John | Technical Memoranda | | 2024 | This report is a comprehensive review of natural and human-made materials with the potential to reduce cement content in concrete by partially replacing portland cement or as additives. The review aims to reveal possible source materials as alternative supplementary cementitious materials (ASCMs) to coal-burned fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag as these SCMs supplies rapidly decline. | Read Report | l2s |
