TY - JOUR
T1 - Nano calcium carbonate (Caco3) as a reliable, durable, and environment-friendly alternative to diminishing fly ash
AU - Poudyal, Lochana
AU - Adhikari, Kushal
AU - Won, Moon
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering at Texas Tech University for providing lab and testing equipment for the experiment. They also would like to express their sincere thanks to Prof. William D. Lawson, Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University, for his sug-gestions and guidance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/7/1
Y1 - 2021/7/1
N2 - Fly ash is widely used in the cement industry to improve the performance and durability of concrete. The future availability of fly ash, however, is a concern, as most countries are inclining towards renewable energy sources as opposed to fossil fuels. Additional concerns have been raised regarding the impact of strict environmental regulations on fly ash quality and variability. This pa-per, therefore, evaluates if nano calcium carbonate (nano CaCO3) can be used as an alternative to fly ash. This paper presents comprehensive testing results (fresh, hardened, and durability) for OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) and PLC (Portland Limestone Cement) concretes with 1% nano CaCO3 and compares them to those for concretes with fly ash (both Class F and C). Compared to concretes with fly ash, OPC and PLC with nano CaCO3 presented improved testing results in most cases, including later age strength, permeability, and scaling resistance. As nanotechnology in concrete is a relatively new topic, more research on the efficient use of nanotechnology, such as for proper dispersion of nano CaCO3 in the concrete, has potential to offer increased benefits. Further, nano CaCO3 is environmentally and economically viable, as it has the potential to be produced within the cement plant while utilizing waste CO2 and generating economic revenue to the industry. Thus, nano CaCO3 has the potential to serve as an alternative to fly ash in all beneficial aspects—economic, environmental, and technical.
AB - Fly ash is widely used in the cement industry to improve the performance and durability of concrete. The future availability of fly ash, however, is a concern, as most countries are inclining towards renewable energy sources as opposed to fossil fuels. Additional concerns have been raised regarding the impact of strict environmental regulations on fly ash quality and variability. This pa-per, therefore, evaluates if nano calcium carbonate (nano CaCO3) can be used as an alternative to fly ash. This paper presents comprehensive testing results (fresh, hardened, and durability) for OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement) and PLC (Portland Limestone Cement) concretes with 1% nano CaCO3 and compares them to those for concretes with fly ash (both Class F and C). Compared to concretes with fly ash, OPC and PLC with nano CaCO3 presented improved testing results in most cases, including later age strength, permeability, and scaling resistance. As nanotechnology in concrete is a relatively new topic, more research on the efficient use of nanotechnology, such as for proper dispersion of nano CaCO3 in the concrete, has potential to offer increased benefits. Further, nano CaCO3 is environmentally and economically viable, as it has the potential to be produced within the cement plant while utilizing waste CO2 and generating economic revenue to the industry. Thus, nano CaCO3 has the potential to serve as an alternative to fly ash in all beneficial aspects—economic, environmental, and technical.
KW - Environmental sustainability
KW - Nanotechnology and nano CaCO3
KW - Ordinary Portland cement (OPC)
KW - Performance and durability
KW - Portland limestone cement (PLC)
KW - Supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) and fly ash
KW - Workability and mechanical properties
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109826702&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ma14133729
DO - 10.3390/ma14133729
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85109826702
SN - 1996-1944
VL - 14
JO - Materials
JF - Materials
IS - 13
M1 - 3729
ER -