20.500.12556/DiRROS-29402 Optimisation of fly ash pretreatment for mechanical strength and radioactive safety in microwave-irradiated alkali-activated materials preliminary results The study investigates the optimisation of fly ash (FA) pretreatment for producing alkali-activated materials (AAMs) with high mechanical strength and reduced radioactive content. Three FA conditions were compared: as-received, sieved below 200 μm, and treated thermally at 550 °C. Both the sieving and thermal treatment removed the residual cellulose effectively, enhancing the compressive strength significantly, while the microwave irradiation improved the strength only in the as-received FA containing organic content. Sieving below 200 μm also reduced the detectable radionuclides, providing a simple, energy-efficient and low-carbon approach to synthesising high-performance, radwaste-safe AAMs. The preliminary results highlight sieving as a promising method to produce environmentally sustainable construction materials from radioactive FA. alkali-activated materials radioactive fly ash naturally occurring radioactive material radionuclide separation microwave irradiation circular economy alkalijsko aktivirani materiali radioaktiven elektrofiltrski pepel naravno prisoten radioaktivni material ločevanje radionuklidov mikrovalovno obsevanje krožno gospodarstvo true false true University of Maribor, University of Maribor Press, University of Maribor, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © authors of proceedings and Potrč, Bogataj, Kravanja, Novak Pintarič (editors) Neznano 2026-05-15 13:09:24 2026-05-15 13:10:58 2026-05-16 03:49:12 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Str. 12-23 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2026-04-21 620.1/.2 10.18690/um.fkkt.1.2026.2 276254723 272982019 https://press.um.si/index.php/ump/en/catalog/book/1108/chapter/1124 1 8d2d9826-504e-11f1-8a5a-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=44069 RAZ_Horvat_Barbara_2026.pdf RAZ_Horvat_Barbara_2026.pdf 1 006BC16B742A0DF274A0BE057F6AFAD0 57f927500bac261fc1c580c4b460036e0438ad74c86469b7f292373e51d354d0 bccc24ae-504e-11f1-8a5a-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=44070 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16531514 0 2ca2460a-5051-11f1-8a5a-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=44076 Zavod za gradbeništvo Slovenije 0 0 0