AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/AJWEP026300202
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Solidification of river sediment by mayenite and biochar composite stabilizers: Strength development, microstructural evolution, and leaching behavior

Wenhao Li1,2 ,  Yalin Yu3 ,  Haoyuan Zhang3 ,  Ning Fang1,2* ,  Xiankai Wang1 ,  Shouqiang Huang3 ,  Dongdong Ge3,4*
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1 China Three Gorges Corporation, National Engineering Research Center of Eco-Environment in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Wuhan , China
2 Shanghai Investigation, Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., Shanghai , China
3 School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou , China
4 Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Solid Waste Treatment and Resource Recovery, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai , China
AJWEP, 026300202 https://doi.org/10.36922/AJWEP026300202
Received: 20 July 2026 | Revised: 15 August 2026 | Accepted: 21 August 2026 | Published online: 7 September 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The resource utilization of urban river sediments is often hindered by their high-water content, poor mechanical properties, and potential environmental risks. In this study, a composite stabilization system based on mayenite (CA) and coconut-shell biochar (BC) was developed to simultaneously improve the engineering performance and environmental safety of contaminated sediments. The effects of initial water content, CA dosage, CA particle size, BC dosage, and BC particle size were systematically investigated using unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests. The optimal conditions were 70% initial water content, 40% CA (250 mesh), and 20% BC (200 mesh), achieving a maximum UCS of 2.31 ± 0.11 MPa. Microstructural analyses revealed distinct functional roles of the two stabilizers. CA primarily provided mechanical stabilization by forming cementitious hydration products that bound sediment particles into a dense, continuous matrix, whereas BC mainly enhanced environmental stabilization through pore refinement and adsorption-assisted contaminant retention. As a result, the CA–BC composite significantly reduced the leaching of heavy metals, chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus compared to CA stabilization alone. This study demonstrates that CA and BC play complementary roles in sediment stabilization, with CA dominating mechanical reinforcement and BC enhancing environmental stability, providing an effective strategy for the sustainable reuse of dredged sediments in geotechnical engineering.

Keywords
Urban river sediment
Mayenite
Biochar
Stabilization
Unconfined compressive strength
Funding
This work was supported by the Scientific Research Project of China Three Gorges Corporation (NBWL202300013) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22306078).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing
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