Microstructural Characterization and Mechanical Properties of Cementitious Mortar Containing Montmorillonite Nanoparticles
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 28, Issue 12
Abstract
In the present work, the effect of different percentages of nano-montmorillonite (NM) powder on the mechanical and microstructural properties of hardened cement paste and mortar were studied. The portland cement was replaced with montmorillonite nanoparticles with 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 weight percentages of cement. The mechanical properties of cement mortar including compressive strength, tensile strength, and flexural strength according to the ASTM standard and the microstructure of cement paste were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-powder, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. The obtained results revealed that adding cement with replaced montmorillonite nanoparticles up to 1.5% will enhance the compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength, and improve the microstructure of cement because of filler effect and acceleration of cement hydration through the nucleation effect. Therefore, 1.5% addition of montmorillonite nanoparticles can be considered as an optimum value.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful for the financial support from Iran National Science Foundation (INSF), which was provided through the national project (No. 92034208) for studying the effects of nanoclay on cement mortar.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 28 • Issue 12 • December 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 17, 2015
Accepted: Apr 19, 2016
Published online: Jul 11, 2016
Published in print: Dec 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Dec 11, 2016
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