Cement-Based Materials Modified with Nanoscale Additives

Abstract

The most common and reliable material without which modern construction is indispensable is concrete. The development of construction production is pushing for new solutions to improve the quality of concrete mix and concrete. The most demanded and significant indicators of a concrete mixture are the compressive strength and mobility of the concrete mixture. Every year, the volume of research on nanomaterials as modifying components of concrete is significantly increasing, and the results indicate the prospects for their use. Nanoparticles with a large specific surface are distinguished by chemical activity, can accelerate hydration and increase strength characteristics due to nucleation and subsequent formation of C–S–H and compaction of the material microstructure. Sol of nanosilica, which can be used instead of microsilica from industrial enterprises, and carbon nanomaterial have a wide reproduction base. This paper presents studies of these types of nanomaterials and the results of their application in cement concrete. Studies have shown that the effect is also observed with the introduction of an additive containing only one type of nanoparticles. The dependence of the obtained characteristics of cement concretes on the content of these nanomaterials has been established. It has been found that the best results were obtained with an additive in which the above-mentioned nanomaterials were used together. Compressive strength of  heavy concrete samples, improved by the complex nanodispersed system, was 78.7 MPa, which exceeds the strength of the sample containing the CNT additive in a pair with a super-plasticizer by 37 %.  The paper proposes the mechanism for  action of the presented complex additive.