EFFECT OF Fe2O3 NANO-PARTICLE ON MICROSTRUCTURE OF PORTLAND CEMENT

In this paper, the microstructure of the composite of Portland cement with 2.0, 2.5, and 3.5 wt% of iron oxide (II) nano-particle is investigated. The purpose of this research work is to establishment the relationship between microstructure and the produced cement nanocomposite to study the effect of iron nano-particle at growth and change in hydrated crystals and partially hydrated cement phase changes. The microstructure studies of the samples was performed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). According to the obtained results, the behavioral mechanisms of iron oxide nano-particle in cement causes to improve the microstructure. The microstructure of samples containing iron oxide nano-particle showed, denser structure with lower porosity and lower crystalline order compared to Portland cement. Also, if the amount of added iron oxide nano-particles to the cement is considered more than a certain amount, then nano-particle would not be distributed well in cement matrix and weakness in mechanical properties was observed

Keywords:

Portland Cement , Nano-Fe2O3 , Microstructure , SEM