Early hydration studies of cementitious materials incorporating nanoalumina

Concrete performance and durability are the major challenging tasks, and concrete technologists use different types of additives such as fly ash, slag, natural pozzolans, and nanomaterials. These materials enhance performance and durability significantly. However, a detailed explanation of early age hydration process and microstructural modification in the presence of nanomaterials remains a point of contention, and extensive research is required for strategic modification in the cementitious system. Present study focused on the precise monitoring of early age hydration with the incorporation of nanoalumina (nAl) in tricalcium silicate (C3S) followed by Portland cement paste and mortar. The dosage of nAl varies from 1 to 5 % (wt%) in C3S and 0.1 to 1.0% in Portland cement using 0.4 w/c ratio. Prescribed hydration studies show that nAl increases the cross-linkage in calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel through substitution of Al by Si, which is responsible for higher modulus of elasticity (40%) enhancement with 1.0% nAl) at 7 days of hydration. The results show that incorporation of nAl in concrete modify the microstructure at initial days of hydration, which is responsible for higher performance and longer service life of concrete.