A study led by scientists from Australia’s RMIT University focuses on the large amount of coffee grounds spent. 15 million tons per year. A significant portion of this waste ends up in landfills, prompting scientists to look for innovative ways to dispose of this material.

Details of the study

Lead author of the study, Rajeev Roychand, a materials scientist at RMIT University, explained:

The inspiration for our work was to find an innovative way to use large amounts of coffee waste in construction projects instead of sending it to landfills, giving coffee a “double chance” in life.

But adding coffee grounds to concrete required careful experimentation. Untreated coffee grounds actually weakened the resulting concrete. To solve this problem, researchers resorted to it. pyrolysis – a process that involves heating coffee grounds in a low-oxygen oven at 348 or 500 degrees Celsius for two hours. This process removes weak organic compounds from the coffee grounds and leaves behind a purified material known as coffee beans. biocharcoal.

what to do next

• Different proportions of biochar, obtained at the two temperatures, were added to Portland cement instead of sand.
• The mixture was first poured, hardened and then subjected to compressive strength testing.

Thus, the optimal mix was developed: coffee grounds were pyrolyzed at 348 degrees instead of 15 percent of the sand normally used in concrete. This mixture provided an excellent increase in compressive strength of just over 29 percent.

Why is this an important discovery?

The results of this discovery go beyond improving the performance of concrete. Since the world’s annual sand production is estimated 50 billion metric tonsThe results of the new study and experiments could potentially contribute to reducing the significant environmental impact of the construction industry.

The continuous extraction of natural sand worldwide has a huge impact on the environment and this impact can be significantly reduced,
– Highlighted study co-author Jie Li, a civil engineer from RMIT.

Many stakeholders expressed interest in the potential of coffee-based concrete, encouraging researchers to explore the feasibility of this alternative. This innovation will take time to implement as it requires more research and testing, but already has the potential to not only strengthen concrete but also pave the way for a more sustainable future in construction applications.