STUDIES ON CEMENT HYDRATION IN PRESENCE OF NANOSILICA

National Council for Cement and Building Materials

S Harsh, A K Arora, Varsha Liju and M M Ali

Centre for Cement Research and Independent Testing National Council for Cement and Building Materials

1 crtb@ncbindia.com

BACKGROUND
Nanomaterials are ultrafine particles having dimensions of the order of 1-100nm. Nanoparticles are reported to improve the properties of cement and concrete. In the present studies, a significant improvement in compressive strength of cement samples has been reported including hydration studies of OPC nanosilica blends using TGA, DTA and FTIR techniques.

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS IN %

Sample Code OPC NS

LOI CaO SiO2

Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO SO3 4.63 1.19 2.13 -

Na2O K2O 0.18 0.41 -

2.67 62.28 20.76 4.96 98.57 -

43 grade OPC meeting requirement of IS 8112 : 1989 was used. Nanosilica used in the study had an average particle size of 15nm. Polycarboxylate ether based superplasticizer was used in mortar of cement blends with nanosilica. 3

COMPOSITION OF BLENDS OF OPC AND NANOSILICA

SAMPLE CODE OPC
OPC OPC-NS3 OPC-NS5 100 97 95

COMPOSITION Nano-silica %
0 3 5

Blending was carried out in a batch type laboratory ball mill with only 10-15 balls. Homogeneity of the blend was checked by drawing three random samples from the bulk and analyzing SiO2 content in them.
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 Pastes of OPC and OPC-nanosilica blends were prepared using w/c ratio of 0.4. The pastes were stored in sealed plastic vials in a temperature controlled cabinet at 271C. The hydration was arrested at ages of 1, 3, 7 and 28 days by acetone. The dried hydrated powders were then subjected to DTA, TGA and FTIR investigations.
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TG/DTA CURVE OF 3 DAYS HYDRATED OPC SAMPLE

TG/DTA CURVE OF 3 DAYS HYDRATED OPC-NS5 SAMPLE

OBSERVATIONS OF TG/DTA STUDIES

SAMPLE CODE

Total wt loss % in hydrated samples

Wt loss % from Ca(OH)2, formed in the hydrated samples

1D OPC OPC-NS3 OPC-NS5 15.54 17.32 18.21

3D 18.06 19.77 18.72

7D 19.69 20.95 21.77

28 D 22.45 22.91 22.94

1D 2.12 1.86 1.76

3D 2.64 1.53 1.51

7D 2.82 2.13 1.70

28 D 3.19 1.97 1.71

In presence of nanosilica the Ca(OH)2 gets assimilated as evident from decrease in weight loss pattern
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FTIR Spectra of Anhydrous OPC and OPC hydrated for 1, 3, 7 and 28 Days

Anhydrous OPC

1D

3D

7D 28 D

(cm-1)

FTIR Spectra of OPC-NS5 hydrated for 1, 3, 7 and 28 Days

1D

3D

7D

28 D

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF BLENDS PREPARED WITH OPC AND NANOSILICA

CODE NO.
Blaines, m2/Kg

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
N.C. % SP. GRAV. IST Mts. FST Mts.

OPC

281

27.6

3.15

120

180

OPC-NS3
OPC-NS5

567
719

36.2
41.2

3.07
3.01

60
20

168
100

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COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF OPC AND NANOSILICA BLENDS AT w/c RATIO OF 0.4

CODE NO.

SP Dose

COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH, MPa 1D 3D 34.31 42.69 51.15 7D 48.66 53.69 65.44 28 D 61.25 72.84 72.68

OPC OPC-NS3 OPC-NS5

0.0 0.45 0.7

20.29 24.92 22.83

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RELATIVE COMPRESSIVE STRENGTHS OF OPC AND NANOSILICA BLENDS

180 160

Relative Compressive Strength

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

OPC OPC-NS3 OPC-NS5

1D

3D Age (Days)

7D

28D

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CONCLUSIONS
The studies on hydration of OPC-nanosilica pastes with TG/DTA and FTIR confirmed the acceleratory effect of nanosilica on cement hydration and its pozzolanic reaction even at early age of 1 day. Nanosilica addition, in the range of 3-5 percent resulted in substantial increase in the Blaines fineness and normal consistency of cement blends.

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CONCLUSIONS
Nanosilica caused shortening of setting times, which was attributed to the acceleratory effect of nanosilica on early cement hydration.

3-5 percent nanosilica caused increase of 10-49 percent in the compressive strengths of OPC blends at ages of 1-28 days.

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