Influence of catalytic nano-additive for stabilization of β-dicalcium silicate and its hydration rate with different electrolytes

The influence of nano-additives (nano-TiO2 and nano-MgO) on stabilization of β-dicalcium silicate (β-C2S) was investigated and compared with corresponding micron size additives. The effectiveness of phase stabilization with different wt% of nano- and micron-additives along with the influence of sintering temperature on stabilization of β-C2S were studied using Rietveld refinement of XRD data. In addition, hydration study of β-C2S stabilized by nano-additive was also carried out in the presence of CaCl2, NaCl, NaOH and distilled water. The rate of hydration and influence of different electrolytes were analyzed by TG and DTG curve. The result shows that nano-TiO2 provides a catalytic effect on phase stabilization even at very low wt%. The hydration result of β-C2S stabilized by nano-TiO2 indicates that electrolyte solution and its ion play an important role towards hydration kinetics. The morphology of the C-S-H phase strongly depends on the electrolyte solution used for the hydration.