Jirayu Yuenyongsuwan. Cement product improvement by TiO2 nanocomposites synthesized via surfactant-assisted method. Doctoral Degree(Chemical Engineering). King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok. Central Library. : King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, 2019.
Cement product improvement by TiO2 nanocomposites synthesized via surfactant-assisted method
Abstract:
Cement is materials used for building foundation in this era. Due to cement properties that are not good enough, the valuable production could be upgraded by adding special properties. This research has gained cement product with special function by adding TiO2 nanoparticles to apply photocatalytic reaction as self-cleaning and also to improve the mechanical properties. The study was divided into 4 main parts.
Part 1: The influence of surfactant on phase-controlled synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles was investigated by varying pH, temperature and methods. Typical anionic, cationic and nonionic surfactants (SDS, CTAB and TritonX-100) with the two methods of hydrothermal and emulsion preparation were selected. The phase composition and size of synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized by XRD and FE-SEM, respectively. The photocatalytic activity of synthesized TiO2 was investigated by methylene blue (MB) degradation. Moreover, BET was used to measure the specific surface area for more understanding of the photocatalytic performance using synthesized TiO2 catalyst. Results indicated the stability, size, and shape of surfactant micelles were the main factors to determine TiO2 phase. Anatase phase was found when the micelle was small and stable. On the other hand, rutile phase occurred when the micelle lost stability and expanded in size, leading to more TiO2 aggregation around micelle. The pure anatase and pure active site rutile {1, 1, 1} TiO2 with smaller nanoparticles exhibited more effective MB photodegradation overall, although mixed phase samples showed higher degradation per unit BET area. The greater the anatase phase formed in the mixed phase TiO2, the greater the MB degradation. The highest degradation of the mixed phase was at the optimum ratio of two phases according to the synergistic effect. From this study, photocatalytic activity was affected by all factors to consider simultaneously phase, synergistic effect of mixed phase and particle size. No one factor was deemed the most effective
Part 2: To develop the special function of the TiO2-based cement materials, the effect of TiO2 on the cement hydration and photocatalytic reaction was investigated. TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by a surfactant-assisted, reverse micelle method to control phase, size and shape by three selected surfactants namely: sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyl trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and TritonX-100. The synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM for observation of phase, size and shape. The modified microstructures of admixed cements with the different synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles incorporated were also examined by SEM. Particularly, the hydration process and photocatalytic reaction of the cement
mixture were evaluated by heat flow calorimetry and methylene blue (MB) degradation, respectively. Results showed that anatase-rich and smaller size TiO2 nanoparticles provided accelerated cement hydration and the ability to degrade MB photocatalytically at the surface of admixed-TiO2 cement.
Part 3: TiO2 synthesized from the second part was used as admixture in cement for preliminary test of porosity and then added in mortar and self-compacting concrete (SCC) for work ability and mechanical strength test. The porosity in cement was analysized by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), whereas the flow table (workability) and compressive strength of mortar and SCC were examined following the standard test of commercial concrete. The results show that TiO2 decreased the total porosity in cement because TiO2 nanoparticles could be filled into the air void inside cement matrix. 1% TiO2 admixture could improved 10% compressive strength of mortar and SCC due to more uniform matter and higher cement density.
Part 4: According to immersion of TiO2 nanoparticles inside the cement matrix leading to low photocatalyst exhibit, TiO2 nanoparticles were modified to be hydrophobic surface, helping explosion of the nanoparticles onto the cement surface during hydration. Admicellar polymerization with adapted steps was selected for this work. Fluorosurfactant (FS1620) and co-fluoropolymer (TFEA:OFPM) were used to synthesize polymer ultra-thin film coating on TiO2 particles. FT-IR, SEM and contact angle clearly confirmed that TiO2 nanoparticles were successfully modified. The optimum surfactant concentration in the system was about 0.8 CMC. From cement test, the modified TiO2 particles clearly demonstrated hydrophobic property and visibly noticed exploding TiO2 nanoparticles on cement surface, moreover the nanoparticles still activated the photocatalytic reaction of MB degradation attached on cement surface.