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Innovative development of high-strength concrete with ultrafine metakaolin-heated POFA binders and fine coal bottom ash aggregate: Strength, durability and microstructural performance
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  • Published: 18 April 2026

Innovative development of high-strength concrete with ultrafine metakaolin-heated POFA binders and fine coal bottom ash aggregate: Strength, durability and microstructural performance

  • Mohammed Ali Mansour1,
  • Mohd Hanif Ismail4,
  • Mugahed Amran2,
  • Honin Alshaer3,
  • Mohd Haziman Wan Ibrahim4,
  • Abdullah Faisal Alshalif4,
  • Omar Alruwaythi2 &
  • …
  • Norfaniza Mokhtar4 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Energy science and technology
  • Engineering
  • Environmental sciences
  • Materials science

Abstract

The production of high-strength concrete (HSC) remains heavily dependent on cement and natural sand, despite the urgent need to reduce the carbon footprint of construction materials. Meanwhile, substantial quantities of palm oil fuel ash (POFA) and coal bottom ash (CBA) remain underutilized, and most existing studies treat ultrafine metakaolin (UFM), heated POFA (HPOFA), or CBA in isolation rather than as an integrated eco-concrete system. This study develops and evaluates an innovative HSC in which UFM and HPOFA serve as blended binders and CBA partially replaces natural fine aggregate. The main objective is to quantify the influence of ternary system on strength development relating to time, permeability, sulfate resistance and microstructural characteristics. A full factorial experimental program was conducted on HSC mixes containing 10–15% UFM, 20–30% HPOFA, and 0–20% CBA as fine aggregate. The results showed that 15% UFM maximizes compressive strength for binary blend, while a combined 15% UFM and 20% HPOFA is optimal for ternary blend. Overall, optimization of the UFM and HPOFA with CBA as fine aggregate system identified 10% UFM, 20% HPOFA and 10% CBA as the best-performing combination. The incorporation of 10–15% UFM with 20–30% HPOFA reduces permeability to 1.80–1.97 × 10−13 cm/s. The mixer containing 15% UFM and 20% HPOFA exhibits only 14.2, 8.6 and 11% reductions in compressive strength, tensile strength, and UPV, respectively, after 300 days of immersion in 5% Na2SO4 solution. Microstructural analysis confirms that UFM and HPOFA refine the pore structure, limit sulfate ion ingress, and diminish ettringite-induced microcracking. The life cycle assessment (LCA) indicates that mixes with 15% UFM and 30% HPOFA in the presence of 10–20% CBA achieve the lowest environmental impacts. The study offers mechanistic insights and practical mix-design guidance for regions with similar waste profiles and aggressive sulfate environments.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation for support given from their respected universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Gaza University, Al Zaitoun, Gaza City, Palestine

    Mohammed Ali Mansour

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Taibah University, 42353, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

    Mugahed Amran & Omar Alruwaythi

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Sana’a University, 9671 Sana’a, Yemen

    Honin Alshaer

  4. Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Johor, Malaysia

    Mohd Hanif Ismail, Mohd Haziman Wan Ibrahim, Abdullah Faisal Alshalif & Norfaniza Mokhtar

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  1. Mohammed Ali Mansour
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  2. Mohd Hanif Ismail
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Contributions

1- Mohammed Ali Mansour: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing—original draft. 2-Mohd Hanif Ismail: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Writing—review & editing. 3-Mugahed Amran: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Validation, Writing—review & editing. 4- Honin Alshaer : Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Resources,Methodology Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing. 5-Mohd Haziman Wan Ibrahim: Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Visualization, Writing—review & editing. 6-Abdulla Faisal Alshalif : Data curation, Formal analysis, Resources, Software, Validation, Writing—review & editing. 7- Omar Alruwaythi : Formal analysis, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing. 8-Norfaniza Mokhtar: Data curation, Resources, Software, Validation, Visualization, Writing—review & editing.

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Correspondence to Mohammed Ali Mansour or Honin Alshaer.

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Cite this article

Mansour, M.A., Ismail, M.H., Amran, M. et al. Innovative development of high-strength concrete with ultrafine metakaolin-heated POFA binders and fine coal bottom ash aggregate: Strength, durability and microstructural performance. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-49052-7

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  • Received: 13 January 2026

  • Accepted: 13 April 2026

  • Published: 18 April 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-49052-7

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Keywords

  • High-strength concrete
  • Durability performance
  • Optimization
  • Sulfate
  • Ultrafine metakaolin (UFM)
  • Palm oil fuel ash (POFA)
  • Coal bottom ash (CBA)
  • Microstructure
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