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Biological matter evolution provides an idea for the human design and synthesis of new materials. However, biomimetic materials only stay in laboratory-scale models, and their large-scale industrial applications are yet to be realized. Here, inspired by nacre’s architecture, we report a continuous, large-scale method to fabricate phosphogypsum composites by reactive extrusion strategy. After curing for seven days, with more than 50 wt% of beta-hemihydrate phosphogypsum (β-HPG), the compressive strength and softening coefficient were 24.98 MPa and 0.78, increasing by 110.0% and 20.0%, respectively, compared to the pouring method. The results show that the screw extrusion process can improve the mechanical strength and waterproof properties of β-HPG hydration specimens without any special chemical admixtures and cements.

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An investigation of the ash sintering characteristics of LLI lignite with kaolin additive during K2CO3‐catalyzed steam gasification was conducted in this study. The ash samples were prepared using a catalytic gasification system at 1073 K under steam atmosphere. Experiments on the sintering behavior were performed using a pressure‐drop sintering device under inert N2. Results showed that when increasing the concentration of K2CO3 from 0 to 10 wt %, the ash sintering temperature decreased and the ash molten degree become more serious. The potassium‐containing compounds arcanite and kaliophilite can trigger the occurrence of sintering on reactions with other minerals to facilitate the formation of liquid phases and then result in a lower ash sintering temperature. Besides, kaolin can increase ash sintering temperature and ease the melt degree of ashes. Kaolin can react with other minerals to generate more refractory silicon oxide and decrease the fluxing arcanite and amorphous materials in ashes.