Utilization of nano agricultural waste to improve the workability and early strength of concrete

Abstract

The utilization of nanoform of agricultural waste as supplementary cementitious material is now widely investigated in cement research area. The nanoparticles in the concrete can be as nuclei for cement phases which further promote the cement hydration due to their high reactivity and act as filler to densify the microstructure. In this study, the waste from the palm oil mill was collected and transformed to the nano form by using high energy ball milling. The process of developing nano POFA by using high energy ball milling is referred to as process of top to bottom approach in nano processing technique. In this research, the nano POFA was used as replacement with cement by 1-3% in the concrete mix that also contained cement replacement of 10-30% weight of micro POFA. The effect of the inclusion of the nano POFA and micro POFA as cement replacement material in concrete mix was investigated. Workability of fresh concrete increased at 4-7% addition of inclusion of nano particles as well as the compressive, tensile and flexural strengths at the early age of concrete. © International Journal of Sustainable Building Technology and Urban Development.