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Effect of Nano Silica on Hydration and Microstructure Characteristics of Cement High Volume Fly Ash System Under Steam Curing

  • Cementitious Materials
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Abstract

The influences of nano silica (NS) on the hydration and microstructure development of steam cured cement high volume fly ash (40 wt%, CHVFA) system were investigated. The compressive strength of mortars was tested with different NS dosage from 0 to 4%. Results show that the compressive strength is dramatically improved with the increase of NS content up to 3%, and decreases with further increase of NS content (e g, at 4%). Then X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry-thermogravimetry (DSCTG), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), mercury intrusion porosimeter (MIP) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to analyze the mechanism. The results reveal that the addition of NS accelerates the hydration of cement and fly ash, decreases the porosity and the content of calcium hydroxide (CH) and increases the polymerization degree of C-S-H thus enhancing the compressive strength of mortars. The interfacial transition zone (ITZ) of CHVFA mortars is also significantly improved by the addition of NS, embodying in the decrease of Ca/Si ratio and CH enrichment of ITZ.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials for Architectures, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Baoguo Ma  (马保国), Junpeng Mei  (梅军鹏), Hongbo Tan, Xiaohai Liu, Wenbin Jiang & Ting Zhang

  2. Department of Construction Cost, Wuhan University of Textile, Wuhan, 430200, China

    Hainan Li

Authors
  1. Baoguo Ma  (马保国)
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  2. Junpeng Mei  (梅军鹏)
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  3. Hongbo Tan
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  4. Hainan Li
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  5. Xiaohai Liu
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  6. Wenbin Jiang
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  7. Ting Zhang
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Correspondence to Junpeng Mei  (梅军鹏).

Additional information

Funded by the “13th Five-Year” National Science and Technology Support Program of China (No.2016YFC0701003–05), the Science and Technology Support Program of Hubei Province (No.2015BAA084) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51378408)

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Ma, B., Mei, J., Tan, H. et al. Effect of Nano Silica on Hydration and Microstructure Characteristics of Cement High Volume Fly Ash System Under Steam Curing. J. Wuhan Univ. Technol.-Mat. Sci. Edit. 34, 604–613 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-019-2094-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11595-019-2094-y

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