Use of Ultrafine Mafic Rocks for the Enhancement of Carbonation Reaction in Lime Renders

ABSTRACT

Lime-based renders have been used since the earliest periods of antiquity. Amongst them, hydrated lime renders set and harden almost entirely through carbonation; this is a slow chemical reaction, which hinders the wider use of the aforementioned composites. The present study focuses on hydrated lime renders that have been modified through the addition of nano-sized dolerite quarry waste and olivine basalt. Both ultrafine rock additives were added to the mixtures at a percentage of 15% (w/w in partial replacement to the binder). Thermogravimetric (DTA/TG) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses, as well as the phenolphthalein indicator test, demonstrated that the degree of carbonation of the modified lime renders was notably enhanced. This has a positive effect on the setting and hardening time of the nano-modified end-products, which could therefore be adopted not only for restoration purposes, but also in contemporary sustainable construction.

KEYWORDS:

• Ball milling
• carbonation reaction
• dolerite quarry waste
• lime renders
• mafic nano-additives
• olivine basalt
• physico-mechanical properties

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the Republic of Cyprus and the European Committee through the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation (Project KOINA/M-ERA.NET/0316/04). LK would also like to acknowledge financial support from the University of Cyprus.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Republic of Cyprus and the European Committee through the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation [Project KOINA/M-ERA.NET/0316/04].