The Influence of Water-Repellent Admixtures on the Hydration Process, Water Absorption, and Mechanical Properties of Cement Paste: An NMR Study Combined with Additional Methods
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34, Issue 10
Abstract
Water repellent (WR) has been widely used to improve the durability of cementitious materials (CMs) by reducing the absorption of water and aggressive ions. In this study, cement pastes were prepared with three types of WR, namely, waterborne pure nanosilicone emulsion (NS), isobutyltriethoxysilane (IS), and octyltriethoxysilane (OCT). The effects of WR on setting time, compressive strength, and water absorption were investigated. The influence of WR on the transverse relaxation time spectrum from 0 min to 28 days during the hydration process was monitored with a low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR). In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and heat flow were employed to study the effect of WR on hydration characteristics. The results showed that the WR specimens exhibited a limited reduction of compressive strength compared with the control sample at 28 days. The use of WR reduced the water absorption of cement paste when compared to that of the control specimens. The results showed that the WR exhibited a retarding effect on hydration reactions, and the capillary and gel pores of the cement paste increased compared with that of the reference sample. XRD analysis showed that the formation of hydration products had been restricted with the addition of WR. The heat flow results showed that the retardation effect was enhanced as the WR dosages increased.
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Data Availability Statement
No data, models, or code were generated or used during the study.
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51678441 and 52108240), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant Nos. 19DZ1202702 and 19DZ1201404), and Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Management Commission of Shanghai Municipality (Grant No. 2021-001-002).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34 • Issue 10 • October 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Apr 3, 2021
Accepted: Feb 2, 2022
Published online: Jul 23, 2022
Published in print: Oct 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Dec 23, 2022
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