scholarly journals Influence of Ultrasonication of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes on the Rheology, Hydration, and Compressive Strength of Portland Cement Pastes

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 5248
Author(s):  
Laura Silvestro ◽  
Artur Ruviaro ◽  
Geannina Lima ◽  
Paulo de Matos ◽  
Afonso R. G. de Azevedo ◽  
...  

The functionalization process usually increases the localized defects of carbon nanotubes (CNT). Thus, the ultrasonication parameters used for dispersing non-functionalized CNT should be carefully evaluated to verify if they are adequate in dispersing functionalized CNT. Although ultrasonication is widely used for non-functionalized CNT, the effect of this dispersing process of functionalized CNT has not been thoroughly investigated. Thus, this work investigated the effect of ultrasonication on functionalized CNT + superplasticizer (SP) aqueous dispersions by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Furthermore, Portland cement pastes with additions of 0.05% and 0.1% CNT by cement weight and ultrasonication amplitudes of 0%, 50% and 80% were evaluated through rheometry, isothermal calorimetry, compressive strength at 1, 7 and 28 days, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR results from CNT + SP dispersions indicated that ultrasonication may negatively affect SP molecules and CNT graphene structure. The increase in CNT content and amplitude of ultrasonication gradually increased the static and dynamic yield stress of paste but did not significantly affect its hydration kinetics. Compressive strength results indicated that the optimum CNT content was 0.05% by cement weight, which increased the strength of composite by up to 15.8% compared with the plain paste. CNT ultrasonication neither increases the degree of hydration of cement nor the mechanical performance of composite when compared with mixes containing unsonicated CNT. Overall, ultrasonication of functionalized CNT is not efficient in improving the fresh and hardened performance of cementitious composites.

Materials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4149
Author(s):  
Laura M. Echeverry-Cardona ◽  
Natalia Álzate ◽  
Elisabeth Restrepo-Parra ◽  
Rogelio Ospina ◽  
Jorge H. Quintero-Orozco

This study shows the energy optimization and stabilization in the time of solutions composed of H2O + TX-100 + Multi-Wall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs), used to improve the mechanical properties of Portland cement pastes. For developing this research, sonication energies at 90, 190, 290, 340, 390, 440, 490 and 590 J/g are applied to a colloidal substance (MWCNTs/TX-100 + H2O) with a molarity of 10 mM. Raman spectroscopy analyses showed that, for energies greater than 440 J/g, there are ruptures and fragmentation of the MWCNTs; meanwhile at energies below 390 J/g, better dispersions are obtained. The stability of the dispersion over time was evaluated over 13 weeks using UV-vis spectroscopy and Zeta Potential. With the most relevant data collected, sonication energies of 190, 390 and 490 J/g, at 10 mM were selected at the first and the fourth week of storage to obtain Portland cement specimens. Finally, we found an improvement of the mechanical properties of the samples built with Portland cement and solutions stored for one and four weeks; it can be concluded that the MWCNTs improved the hydration period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 02012
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aqil ◽  
Lahcen Bahi ◽  
Latifa Ouadif ◽  
Siham Belhaj ◽  
Raounak Edderkaoui

An experimental company was carried out to better understand the influence of curing temperature on the mechanical behaviour of cementitious materials, particularly compressive strength, the study focused on two types of mortars, the first containing polypropylene fibers while the second contains a proportion of PVC-type plastic grains from industrial waste, the hydration kinetics of the different components of the formulated mortar has been characterized by the isothermal calorimetric test, thus a history of the hydration degrees has been established, Afterwards, an attempt was made to correlate the compressive strength with the evolution of the degree of hydration for the different formulations, based on the results obtained, it is clearly observable that the compressive strength evolves with the degree of hydration and that the specimen containing the polypropylene fibers has the best mechanical performance with respect to compression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2627-2638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pawel Sikora ◽  
Krzysztof Cendrowski ◽  
Mohamed Abd Elrahman ◽  
Sang-Yeop Chung ◽  
Ewa Mijowska ◽  
...  

AbstractThis contribution investigates the effects of seawater and colloidal silica (NS) in the amounts of 1, 3 and 5 wt%, respectively, on the hydration, strength development and microstructural properties of Portland cement pastes. The data reveal that seawater has an accelerating effect on cement hydration and thus a significant contribution to early strength development was observed. The beneficial effect of seawater was reflected in an improvement in compressive strength for up to 14 days of hydration, while in the 28 days compressive strength values were comparable to that of cement pastes produced with demineralized water. The combination of seawater and NS significantly promotes cement hydration kinetics due to a synergistic effect, resulting in higher calcium hydroxide (CH) production. NS can thus react with the available CH through the pozzolanic reaction and produce more calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel. A noticeable improvement of strength development, as the result of the synergistic effect of NS and seawater, was therefore observed. In addition, mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests confirmed significant improvements in microstructure when NS and seawater were combined, resulting in the production of a more compact and dense hardened paste structure. The optimal amount of NS to be mixed with seawater, was found to be 3 wt% of cement.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-203
Author(s):  
Guilherme Chagas Cordeiro ◽  
Mônica Nunes Lemos ◽  
Kristian Vinco Xavier ◽  
Charles Prado Ferreira de Lima

Abstract This paper aims to study the production and the physical and chemical characterization of rice husk, sugarcane bagasse, corn straw, and bamboo leaf ashes to use as pozzolans. The ash production steps basically consisted of raw material collection, chemical treatment by citric acid leaching, conjugated burning (thermal processing) and ultrafine grinding (mechanical processing) of the produced ashes. The results indicated that all ashes could be classified as pozzolanic additions based on specific standards. The high pozzolanicity of the ashes was confirmed by testing the electrical conductivity, mechanical performance index, and hydration kinetics of cement pastes by isothermal calorimetry. Therefore, the production processes used in this work were effective in producing highly reactive pozzolanic materials.


2018 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 01062
Author(s):  
Meriem Meziani ◽  
Nasser Chelouah ◽  
Ouali Amiri ◽  
Nordine Leklou

In the present study, the hydration of Portland cement pastes containing 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% tuff, limestone filler and granodiorite was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis coupled with differential scanning calorimetry and microcalorimetry isotherm. The monitoring of the hydration kinetics by thermogravimetric analysis made it possible to quantify the quantity of water combined with the cement (nonevaporable water) and the degree of hydration. By coupling this technique to the differential scanning calorimetry, it was also possible to measure the energy absorbed or released by the material during its decomposition. The results showed that the non-evaporable water content and the degree of hydration of the mixtures containing various mineral admixtures were relatively lower with respect to the reference mixture when as the content of mineral admixture increased. The effect of the evolution of the hydration process on the mechanical properties of mortars was also monitored. The relative variation of the compressive strength to that of the flexural strength was evaluated at 7, 28 and 90 days. Results showed that all the mixtures have a greater contribution in flexion than in compression.


Author(s):  
Kavya S. Kamasamudram ◽  
Warda Ashraf ◽  
Eric N. Landis

Cellulose nanofibril (CNF) with a high aspect ratio, elastic modulus, tensile strength, and reactive surface area is a promising nanomaterial for improving the chemo-mechanical properties of cementitious matrixes. CNFs are typically less than 0.2 mm in length and 50 nm in width, and are extracted from plants and trees. This study investigated the potential application of three types of CNF for enhancing the performance of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes: pure CNF (PCNF), silica coated CNF (SCNF), and lignin-containing CNF (LCNF). The performance of the cement pastes was monitored for cement paste workability, hydration kinetics, microstructural development, and mechanical performance (compressive strength and flexural strength). The dispersion stability of CNFs measured through zeta potential showed a better dispersion for SCNF when compared with PCNF and LCNF in varied alkaline mediums. The better stability of SCNF also resulted in improved workability of the cement paste mixtures containing this type of cellulose. All of the cellulose nanomaterials accelerated the cement hydration at the early stage as a result of the nucleation effect. Such an acceleration effect was slightly higher for SCNF because of the presence of silica nanoparticles. The addition of 0.1% SCNF increased the compressive strength (90 days) by 13% when compared with the control batch and 10% compared with the PCNF batch. The addition of 0.1% of PCNF enhanced the flexural strength by 70% followed by LCNF with 40% improvement. SCNF showed little to no effect on the flexural strength.


Author(s):  
Hosain Haddad Kolour ◽  
Warda Ashraf ◽  
Eric N. Landis

In this work, the effects of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) on workability, hydration reaction, microstructure, early age shrinkage, fracture properties, flexural strength, and compressive strength of cement paste were investigated. Six batches with variable CNF concentrations with the same water-to-cement (w/c) ratio (0.35) were tested. Flow table test showed a reduction in the workability as CNF dosage increased. Isothermal calorimetry (IC) tests showed that after 3 days, degree of hydration (DOH) improved up to 8% because of the addition of CNFs. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests at 7 and 28 days showed no significant changes in DOH for all pastes. After 7 days, mixture with 0.15% CNF resulted in up to 31% improvement in compressive strength. For 0.09% CNF addition, cement paste showed 26% increase in compressive strength after 28 days. Tests revealed that adding a small quantity of CNF (0.06%) along with entraining 0.05 extra water reduces autogenous shrinkage by 49% at a cement paste with w/c = 0.30. For interpreting the results, a tunnels, reservoirs, and bridges (TR&B) model is proposed. This model suggests that, as proposed by others, CNFs can modify microstructure by providing tunnels for transporting water to unhydrated cement grain. Because of their hydrophilicity, CNFs retain water and work as reservoirs (internal curing), which explains the improvement in properties at low w/c ratios. Significant increases in fracture energy (up to 60%) and flexural strength (up to 116%) suggest that CNFs are an effective toughening mechanism, acting as bridges that increase the energy required for crack propagation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 288 ◽  
pp. 123053
Author(s):  
Saulo Rocha Ferreira ◽  
Neven Ukrainczyk ◽  
Keoma Defáveri do Carmo e Silva ◽  
Luiz Eduardo Silva ◽  
Eduardo Koenders

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