Effect of Nanoparticles on Strength and Durability Properties on Cement Mortar

The nanotechnology provides an impact on construction industry materials with new properties and produce material with better performance. This paper presents the experimental investigation on the effects of nano particles incorporated in the cementitious materials to study the strength and durability properties of cement mortar. Nano particles such as nano alumina (NA), nano ferric oxide (NF) and nano silica (NS) were mixed at different proportions of 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% by weight of binder in single and binary combinations. Mechanical properties such as compressive strength and split tensile strength; durability properties such as water absorption and rapid chloride permeability test were tested as per standards. The results showed that 1.5% of the combination of nano silica & nano ferric oxide (NSF) and nano silica & nano alumina (NSA) particles increased the mechanical strength and durability properties of cement mortar. The microstructure characteristics results revealed that the nano particles incorporated cementitious materials showed the voids were filled up with nano particles. It acts as filler in cement mortar that enhanced a dense microstructure, reduced the quantity and size of calcium hydroxide and also filled the voids of C-S-H gel structure.