Effect of organic alkali on hydration of GGBS-FA blended cementitious material activated by sodium carbonate

Abstract Sodium carbonate (SC) activated ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) and fly ash (FA) is a potential substitute of traditional cement with ultra-low carbon footprint. However, its hydration rate and strength growth are limited, owing to the slow leaching of ions during the activation of weak base. In this work, 60% wet-grinded GGBS and 40% FA were blended as the binder, and two organic alkalis, i.e. triethanolamine (TEA) and triisopropanolamine (TIPA), were adopted to facilitate the ions dissolution and pozzolanic reaction of SC activated GGBS-FA blended cementitious material (SCSF). The compressive strength was tested and the hydration kinetics was studied by hydration heat and chemical shrinkage. Besides, ions leaching behavior was characterized by ICP; hydrates and microstructure were also detected by XRD, TG-DTG and SEM. Results indicated that the addition of TEA or TIPA significantly promoted the ions dissolution. 0.05% TEA increased the concentration of leached Ca2+, Al3+ and Fe3+ by 36%, 33% and 1545%, respectively. This solubilizing effect was also found in TIPA. Moreover, these two chemicals could promote the formation of hydrates, such as C-S(A)-H gel, hydrotalcite, calcite and aragonite, especially at the early period; these also activated the hydration process of SCSF effectively, and the compressive strength of the mortar reached above 40.0 MPa at 7 d and 48.0 MPa at 28 d. The carbon emission of the designed system is 85.9% and 55.9% lower than that of PC and strong base activated GGBS system, respectively.