## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Materials  
The aeolian sand utilized in this study was sourced from the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. Sand samples were excavated from a depth of 1.5 m below the surface, immediately packed in sealed bags, and transported to the laboratory. Natural moisture content, bulk density, and porosity were measured in the laboratory, with these parameters detailed in our previously published work [30]. Figure 1a illustrates the natural morphology and microstructural characteristics of the untreated aeolian sand particles. Observations reveal that the aeolian sand particles exhibited angular to sub-rounded shapes with smooth surfaces and minimal fines content, indicating limited interparticle cohesion and weak natural cementation. Results of laser particle size analysis (LPSA, as shown in Figure 2) indicate that the limiting particle size \(d_{60}\) of aeolian sand was 345 \(\upmu\)m, with uniformity coefficient \(C_{\text{u}}\) of 2.62 and curvature coefficient \(C_{\text{c}}\) of 0.88. Figure 1: _Cont._  
GGBFS employed in this study was provided by a mineral powder plant in Hebei, China. As shown in Figure 1b, the GGBFS appears as a pale powder with a specific surface area of approximately 0.43 m\({}^{2}\)/g, produced by crushing and grinding waste slag generated during blast-furnace iron smelting. The \(d_{60}\), \(C_{\rm u}\), and \(C_{\rm c}\) of GGBFS were measured as 6.31 \(\upmu\)m, 12.6, and 1.0, respectively. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy results (Table 1) reveal that the primary oxides in GGBFS are SiO\({}_{2}\) and CaO (30% and 40%, respectively), along with minor Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) (14%) and MgO (8%). These oxides predominantly exist as amorphous glassy phases with weak intermolecular bonding due to the rapid cooling rate during discharge, thereby endowing the material with high pozzolanic reactivity. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Material** & **SiO\({}_{2}\)** & **CaO** & **Fe\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)** & **Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)** & **MgO** & **SO\({}_{3}\)** & **Na\({}_{2}\)O** & **K\({}_{2}\)O** \\ \hline OPC & 20.24 & 60.93 & 3.58 & 5.26 & 3.66 & 2.68 & 1.19 & 1.13 \\ SS & 17.18 & 30.01 & 29.1 & 8.43 & 4.41 & 0.62 & 0 & 0.01 \\ GGBFS & 30.07 & 38.22 & 0.88 & 16.50 & 8.33 & 2.08 & 0.51 & 0.86 \\ PS & 44.89 & 43.97 & 0.01 & 3.88 & 3.72 & 0 & 0.05 & 0.84 \\ CS & 2.72 & 70.35 & 1.03 & 0.89 & 0.62 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Chemical composition of materials. Figure 1: Materials used in this study: (**a**) macro/microscopic morphologies of aeolian sand; (**b**) ISWs. Figure 2: Particle size distribution of materials. SS and PS are two additional ISWs employed to provide reactants for pozzolanic reactions. Coarse SS and coarse PS were collected from a steel plant and a phosphate chemical plant in Henan, China, respectively. In the laboratory, the coarse slags were milled into black and white powder, respectively, via high-energy ball milling and fully passed through a 150-mesh sieve (aperture size: 106 \(\mu\)m). The elevated temperature generated during this process evaporated residual moisture in the raw materials. The \(d_{60}\), \(C_{u}\), and \(C_{c}\) of SS were 15.1 \(\mu\)m, 4.08, and 1.0, respectively, while those of PS were 17.9 \(\mu\)m, 3.9, and 1.13, respectively. XRF results revealed that SS contains 30% CaO and 30% Fe\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\), along with 17% SiO\({}_{2}\), while PS is composed of 40% SiO\({}_{2}\) and 40% CaO, with minor contributions from other oxides. These compositions enabled precise modulation of the oxide ratios within the binder system. CS was a by-product generated during acetylene production via calcium carbide hydrolysis. The employed CS in this study was collected from an acetylene chemical plant in Hebei, China, presented as white powder. Results of LPSA indicated that \(d_{60}\), \(C_{u}\) and \(C_{c}\) of CS were 10.0 \(\mu\)m, 9.1, and 0.87, respectively.