Physicochemical and Mechanical Properties of Polymer-Amended Kaolinite and Fly Ash–Kaolinite Mixtures
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31, Issue 6
Abstract
Environmentally and ecologically friendly biopolymers (xanthan gum, chitosan) and synthetic polymers (polyethylene oxide, polyacrylamide) were employed as novel binders to improve the engineering performance of kaolinite and fly ash–kaolinite mixtures. The floc size, microstructure, physicochemical properties (pH, electrical conductivity, and zeta potential) of polymer-amended kaolinite were investigated, which provided in-depth understanding of the improvement of mechanical properties (Atterberg limits, compaction characteristics, thermal conductivity, and shear strength) from micro to macro. Based on the laboratory observations, it is demonstrated that polyethylene oxide (PEO), chitosan, and polyacrylamide (PAM) induced higher degree of face-to-face (FF) aggregated microfabric through polymer bridging and charge neutralization while xanthan gum led to more edge-to-edge (EE) particle associations. The addition of fly ash was found to reduce the plasticity index, increase the maximum dry unit weight, and decrease the optimum water content of kaolinite, while the organic agents were found to increase the liquid limit and decrease the maximum dry unit weight. The thermal conductivity of fly ash–kaolinite mixtures was found relatively low compared to pure kaolinite, which decreased continuously as the polymer content increased. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of organically modified soil increased slightly as the xanthan gum content increased. However, the UCS decreased with the further increase of polymer content ( by weight).
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Acknowledgments
The present study was carried out with the support of the Key Laboratory of Soft Soils and Geoenvironmental Engineering (Zhejiang University), Ministry of Education (2018P03), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0800207), National Natural Science Foundation of China (41472244), National Natural Science Foundation of China (51808207), and the Provincial Key Research and Development Program of Hunan Province (0105679005).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 31 • Issue 6 • June 2019
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©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 20, 2018
Accepted: Nov 21, 2018
Published online: Mar 22, 2019
Published in print: Jun 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Aug 22, 2019
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