Characterization of Titanium Nanotube Reinforced Cementitious Composites: Mechanical Properties, Microstructure, and Hydration

Abstract

In recent years, nano-reinforcing technologies for cementitious materials have attracted considerable interest as a viable solution for compensating the poor cracking resistance of these materials. In this study, for the first time, titanium nanotubes (TNTs) were incorporated in cement pastes and their effect on the mechanical properties, microstructure, and early-age hydration kinetics was investigated. Experimental results showed that both compressive (~12%) and flexural strength (~23%) were enhanced with the addition of 0.5 wt.% of TNTs relative to plain cement paste at 28 days of curing. Moreover, it was found that, while TNTs accelerated the hydration kinetics of the pure cement clinker phase (C3S) in the early age of the reaction (within 24 h), there was no significant effect from adding TNTs on the hydration of ordinary Portland cement. TNTs appeared to compress the microstructure by filling the cement paste pore of sizes ranging from 10 to 100 nm. Furthermore, it could be clearly observed that the TNTs bridged the microcracks of cement paste. These results suggested that TNTs could be a great potential candidate since nano-reinforcing agents complement the shortcomings of cementitious materials.

Portland Cement: An Overview as a Root Repair Material

“…There are limited studies on the flexural strength of PC in comparison with other endodontic cements [ 78 , 79 ]. Contamination with blood or saliva has no significant effect on the flexural strength of Portland cement [ 80 ].…”

Implications of Nano-Titanium Dioxide Incorporation in Cement Matrix: A Review

“…Wang et al [13] reported increased hydration rate dramatically during the early stages which gradually declined later. It is also evident from the study by Jee et al [11] that the degree of hydration of 55.75% for both pure C 3 S and n-TiO 2 incorporated C 3 S. It could be inferred that the role of n-TiO 2 is primarily an inert material enhancing dispersion, thereby promoting heterogenous nucleation.…”

“…Concrete smeared with n-TiO 2 serve as a photocatalytic material while concrete modified with different weight percent of n-TiO 2 forms high quality concrete [10,11]. Fineness, specific surface area of n-TiO 2 and percentage of replacement influence the hydration process of cement by facilitating hydration products precipitation at more sites [12,13].…”

Synthesis of Highly-Dispersed Graphene Oxide Nanoribbons–Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes–Graphene Oxide (GNFG) Complex and Its Application in Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Cementitious Composites

“…To observe the variation of the mechanical properties of the cement paste with hydration time, the compressive and splitting tensile strength of the specimens were tested after curing 1, 3, 7, and 28 days, respectively [ 57 ]. The compressive and splitting tensile strengths of the hydrated cement paste were measured using a micro-compressive machine (Deben, Micro-Compressive Machine, Edmunds, Suffolk, UK) [ 58 ]. Figure 2 shows a schematic of the compressive and splitting tensile strength tests [ 57 , 59 ].…”