Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concrete modified

by nano-particles
Chang Gao a, Liang Huang a,⇑, Libo Yan b,c,⇑, Ruoyu Jin d, Haoze Chen b
a
College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
b
Centre for Light and Environmentally-Friendly Structures, Fraunhofer Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut WKI, Bienroder Weg 54E, Braunschweig 38108, Germany
c
Department of Organic and Wood-Based Construction Materials, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hopfengarten 20, 38102 Braunschweig, Germany
d
School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Cockcroft Build. 616, Brighton, UK

h i g h l i g h t s

Nano-particles were used to improve recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) properties.

Effect of replacement ratios of recycled aggregates on RAC properties was studied.

Effect of dosages of nano-particles on RAC properties was studied.

Effect of mixing method of nano-particles on RAC properties was studied.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this study, different nano-particles were used to modify recycled aggregates concrete (RAC) containing
Received 26 August 2019 recycled clay brick aggregates (RCBAs) to improve the RAC properties. Two stages of experimental works
Received in revised form 5 December 2019 were performed. In the first stage, various nano-particle mixtures produced by different mixing methods,
Accepted 2 January 2020
i.e. the use of surfactant and ultrasonication, were examined by optical microscope to evaluate the dis-
Available online 10 January 2020
persion of the nano-particles in water liquid. The nano-particles modified cement mortar specimens were
further evaluated by flexural tensile test to check how these mixing methods affect the properties of the
Keywords:
nano-particle modified cement mortar. In the second experimental stage, the effects of four replacement
Recycled aggregate concrete (RAC)
Recycled clay brick aggregate (RCBA)
ratios of recycled aggregates, three type of nano-particles, two mixing methods of RAC, additional surfac-
Nano-particles tant and ultrasonication process used in the mix of nano-particle liquid, and the dosages of the nano-
Mechanical properties particles on the workability, compressive and split tensile properties of the nano-particle modified
Interfacial transition zone (ITZ) RAC were investigated.
Ultrasonication Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction resources such as the use of natural aggregates in construction also

causes burden on environmental issues. Therefore, how to reduce
With the progress of urbanization, massive quantities of con- the depletion of natural resources and also how to promote the
struction and demolition wastes (CDW) are generated which are recycle and reuse of CDW become a worldwide challenge. One cop-
not only difficult to dispose, but also cause environmental pollu- ing approach to address both issues is to develop and use recycled
tion and economic problems [1–4]. It is reported that over 500 mil- aggregates (RAs) originated from CDW to produce recycled aggre-
lion tons of CDW are produced annually in the worldwide [5]. gate concrete (RAC) for new construction application. In RAC, recy-
While on the other hand the depletion of huge amounts of natural cled aggregates (RAs) are typically used to partially or fully replace
the natural aggregates (NAs) [6,7]. RAC is considered as an eco-
nomical and environmentally friendly concrete which can con-
serve the landfilling space for CDW and reduce the shortage of
⇑ Corresponding authors at: College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, natural resources [8].
Changsha 410082, China (L. Huang); Department of Organic and Wood-Based
Research on using RAC in new concrete construction has been
Construction Materials, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Hopfengarten 20,
38102 Braunschweig, Germany (L. Yan).
studied for decades [1]. The major problem of promoting RACs
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. Huang), l.yan@tu-braunsch- for practice is their inferior properties when comparing with those
weig.de (L. Yan). of NAC, e.g., such as low compressive, tensile and flexural strength,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118030
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

List of acronyms

RAC Recycled aggregate concrete ITZ Interfacial Transition Zone

RCBA Recycled clay brick aggregate NS Nano-SiO2 material
RAs Recycled aggregates NC Nano-CaCO3 material
NAC Natural aggregate concrete MWCNTs Multi-walled carbon nanotubes
NAs Natural aggregates CNTs Carbon nano-tubes
fc Compressive strength MI Mixing method I
fst Split tensile strength MII Mixing method II
fst,code Calculated split tensile strength C Compressive tests
fst,150 Tested split tensile strength of cubes T Split tensile tests
A Area of split surface UV Ultrasonic vibration mix method
D Diameter of cylindrical specimens SFC Surfactant process
H Height of cylindrical specimens TSMA Two-stage mixing approach

high water absorption and porosity of RAs, large shrinkage of the mortar as seen in Fig. 1(b) [20]. In comparison only ITZ-2 exists in
RAC [9–11]. Due to those weaknesses, the dosage of RAs used for NAC as in Fig. 1(c).
replacing NAs for RAC has been limited, e.g., normally 20%-35% In the past decades, researchers have tried various reinforcing
or even lower replacement ratio of NAs was used in structural and optimizing approaches aiming to improve the performance
application [12]. In most European and Asian countries, the waste of RAs and their resulting RACs. For examples, attempts have been
clay brick aggregates occupy around 45%–50% of RAs since most carried out to optimize the microstructures of the RAs and in turn
existing constructions and buildings were made of bricks and to improve the resulting RAC properties by using fly ash, silica
masonries [13–15]. RAs generally consist of 45%–50% of recycled fume with pozzolanic reaction and filling ability to produce more
clay brick aggregates (RCBAs) and 55%–50% of recycled concrete solid micro-structures of the RAs and stronger ITZs in the RAC
or bubble aggregates, and some waste glass or wood chips. It is [25–28]. Recently, the application of nano-technology has gained
both technically and economically impossible to sort out pure the momentum in different fields [29–31]. Nano-materials have
recycled concrete aggregates from the mixture of RAs [9,15]. For been used in concrete to achieve superior mechanical properties
RAs with RCBAs obtained from old masonry and brick wastes, nor- and durability of conventional NAC [32–35]. Nano-materials are
mally they present higher water absorption and lower crushing defined as nano-scale size particles with the diameter of less than
indices than those of RAs sorted from old concrete waste, as the 100 nm, such as nano-SiO2, nano-CaCO3, nano-TiO2, and carbon
original strength of bricks and masonry structures are lower than nanotubes [33–35]. Proper nano-particles can enhance the
that of concrete [16]. Research indicates that the inferior perfor- strength and durability of concrete, reduce the permeability of con-
mance of RACs is attributed to the waste mortar attached to the crete by coating the surface of the aggregates, filling the microp-
surface of the RAs which was defined with porous, micro cracks ores to decrease concrete porosity, accelerating the hydration
and drawbacks [17]. Previous studies have confirmed that the reaction of cement, and strengthening the bonds of interfacial ITZs
mechanical properties of concrete are highly dependent on the between the aggregates and the cement paste [35]. The potential of
properties of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between new nano-technology in enhancing the performance of concrete and
cement mortar and aggregates [18–24]. More ITZs exist in the developing novel, sustainable, advanced cement composites with
RAC which is another reason for the inferior quality of RAC, and unique mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties is promising
the relative quality of the old ITZ and the new ITZs in RAC affect [35]. For example, nano-SiO2 (NS) particle as the most popular
the strength of the RAC significantly [18]. Actually, three ITZs exist nanomaterial mixture in concrete modification provided an excel-
in the RAC: ITZ-1 is between the old attached mortar and the nat- lent performance in improving the mechanical properties and
ural aggregates, ITZ-2 is between the natural aggregates and the durability of NAC [20,38–40]. Studies have shown that the addition
new cement mortar, and ITZ-3 is between the old and new cement of NS in fresh concrete resulted in 21.6% increase of compressive

Fig. 1. a) RCBAs, b) ITZs of RAC, (c) ITZ of NAC.

 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030 3

strength [38], and changed the microstructures by filling the voids 2. Experimental program
of each content of concrete mixture physically and helping form
the C-S-H crystal nucleus of cement paste, which in turn changed 2.1. Raw materials
the physical properties and durability of concrete mixture
[36–38]. The nano-CaCO3 (NC) particle was primarily used as filler Recycled coarse aggregates (RCAs) used in this study were
to reduce the porosity of aggregates in its powder form. Recent obtained from construction and demolition wastes which were
studies have shown that the NC could accelerate the hydration rate crushed and screened by Jinke Resource Recycling Co. in China.
of cement and improve the early-age properties of NAC [41]. Stud- The RAs consisted of 55% recycled clay brick aggregates (RCBAs)
ies have also shown that carbon nano-tubes (CNTs) could improve and 45% recycled concrete and mortar aggregates by mass (Fig. 2
the mechanical properties, reduce the initial shrinkage, improve (a)). The natural coarse aggregates (NCAs) were natural gravels
durability and modify the microstructures of cementitious matri- and the natural fine aggregates (NFA) were natural river sands with
ces [42–44]. An appropriate incorporation of surface modified a fineness modulus of 2.57. The physical properties and the sizes of
CNTs with a mass content of 0.4%–0.5% resulted in 19%–25% the RAs and NAs are listed in Table 1 and Fig. 2, respectively. The
increase in compressive and flexural strength of the cement pastes nano-SiO2 (NS) and nano-CaCO3 (NC) were purchased from Hang-
[45] and resulted in 35% lower shrinkage of the cement matrix zhou Wanjing New material CO., LTD., China, and the physical
[46]. Hawreen et al. [47] investigated the effects of dosages of CNTs properties of NS and NC are listed in Tables 2 and 3, respectively.
with incorporation of 0.05–0.1% on the mechanical and shrinkage The type of the carbon nanotubes used in the tests was the
behavior, and found respective 33% and 65% increase in flexural multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), named L-MWCNT-
strength of mortar with 0.05% and 0.1% CNTs. In contrast, the insuf- 2040 and the physical properties of MWCNTs are listed in Table 4.
ficient dispersion of CNTs could lead to inferior performance than Previous studies revealed that an upper limit dosage of
that of common cement mixtures [48]. A major disadvantage of nanoparticles existed for cement-based materials [26]. Excessive
using nano-sized materials as admixture in concrete is that the usage of nano-particles beyond the upper limit could cause a neg-
nanoscale materials tend to form agglomerates during wetting ative effect on the mechanical properties of concrete but also raise
and mixing due to the considerable Van der Waals’ force among the material cost. The recommended dosages of NS and NC were
the molecules [44]. Unless the individual particles are well dis- 1 wt% and 2 wt% of the cement to have an optimized enhancement
persed, agglomeration will reduce the exposed particle surface in the compressive or flexural properties [33,38]. The dosage of
area and lead to poor micro-structures of the concrete mix and MWCNT used for cement was 0.1 wt% of cement as suggested by
in turn even reduce the properties of the concrete mix [49–51]. It Hawreen et al. [47]. As nanoparticles are hard to disperse in the
is crucial that the mixing water, cement and nano-admixtures cement, thus, in current study, surfactant and ultrasonication were
are evenly dispersed and distributed down to a fine scale, other- further applied to process the nano-particle liquid.
wise the insufficient dispersing and de-agglomeration could result
in inferior concrete properties, e.g., partial stress concentration and
pre-existing micro-cracks of concrete structure, and lower strength
[20]. Ultra-sonication is proved to be an effective approach for mix-
ing, dispersing and de-agglomeration of nano-particles or aggre-
gates [52]. The ultrasonication, with its high frequency of
vibration, could accelerate the dispersion of nano-particles and
other mixtures in the concrete [53].
In view of the characteristics of nano-particles and their supe-
rior performance in promoting the properties of cement-based
materials and NAC, it is worth investigating the feasibility of apply-
ing nano-materials to improve the performance of RAC with
RCBAs. This study therefore aims to investigate the mechanical
properties of RACs containing RCBA modified by various nano-
particles. To improve the dispersion of nano-particles in the RAC,
different mixing methods, e.g. surfactant and ultrasonication, were
further used to process the nano-particle liquids. Specifically, the
objectives of the current study include: Fig. 2. Coarse aggregates a) RAs and b) NAs.

1) to investigate the effect of ultrasonication and surfactant

processes on the dispersion of nano-materials which is Table 1
examined by microscope observation and evaluated by the Physical properties of RCA and NCA.

flexural tensile test of the nano-particles modified cement Types Particle Density Porosity Water Moisture Crushing
mortar specimens; size (kg/m3) (%) absorption content index (%)
2) to compare the compressive and tensile properties of nano- (mm) (%) (%)

particles (i.e., nano-SiO2, nano-CaCO3, and carbon nan- RCA 5–10 1140 10 14.8 6.5 17.3
otubes) modified fresh RAC with RCBAs and NAC, and the NCA 5–10 1620 6 1.7 0.3 10.7
tested variables included the curing ages of the RACs, the
replacement ratios of RAs for RAC, dosages and types of
nano-particles, and two kinds of two-stage mixing methods Table 2
of RAC mixtures; Physical properties of nano-SiO2.
3) to compare the experimental split tensile results of Appearance Density Size pH Purity Price/
nano-particles modified RAC with the predictions based on (g/cm3) (nm) kg
the different equations listed in concrete design standards, NS White flocculent 1.1–1.2 15–30 5–7 99.5% $29
i.e., ACI 318 [56], GB 10,010 [57], CEB [58], EHE [59], NBR powder
6118 [60].
4 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

Table 3
Physical properties of nano-CaCO3.

Appearance Density (g/cm3) Size (nm) Particle shape PH Purity Character Price/kg
NC White powder 2.5–2.6 15–40 Cube 8–9 98.5% Hydrophilic $33

Table 4
Physical properties of MWCNTs.

Outer Diameter (nm) Length (lm) Purity (%) Density (g/cm3) Specific Surface Area (m2/g) Price/kg
L-MWCNT-2040 20–40 5–15 >97 0.22 90–120 $295

2.2. Test matrix or MWCNT-modified RAC mixed by using the ultrasonic vibration
method and the SFC was used in the production of nanoparticles
A total of 64 categories of RAC cubic specimens were prepared liquid for all the nanoparticles-modified RAC specimens; the last
and tested to obtain the mechanical properties of nano-particle column means which form of the tests was conducted on each kind
modified RACs, i.e., 48 categories of cubic specimens were tested of specimens, the abbreviation ‘‘C” means the compressive tests
under the compression load (i.e., 16 categories of various RACs at and the abbreviation ‘‘T” means the split tensile tests, and the cur-
3d-, 7d- and 28d-compressive tests, respectively) and 16 categories ing ages of specimens were expressed as 3d-, 7d- and 28d- in front
of cubic specimens were tested under the split tensile load at of the abbreviations. For examples, RAC-50% indicates the RAC
28-day. Each category of RAC included 6 identical cubic specimens specimens without incorporation of nanoparticles and with 50%
with a size of 150  150  150 mm3. In total, 384 RAC cubes were replacement ratio of RAs accounting for the coarse aggregates,
constructed to evaluate the compressive and split tensile proper- NS-MII-1-100% indicates the RAC-RCBA specimens incorporating
ties of RACs. The test variables included the replacement ratios of 1 wt% NS, with 100% replacement ratio of RAs and the second mix-
the RAs (i.e., 0 wt%, 50 wt%, 70 wt% and 100 wt%), the types of ing method, NS-MII-1-70%-UV indicates the RAC-RCBA specimens
nano-particles (i.e., NS, NC and MWCNT), the dosage of nano- with 70% replacement ratio of RAs incorporating 1 wt% NS liquid
particles (i.e., 1 wt% and 2 wt% of NS, 1 wt% and 2 wt% of NC, processed with both ultrasonication and surfactant, and the second
0.1 wt% of MWCNT), two different two-stage mixing approaches mixing method of RAC.
for the fresh concrete mixtures (mixing methods I and II, details Table 6 lists the details of the mix proportions of the concrete
of these two mixing methods are given in Section 2.3), the applica- batches containing different replacement ratios of RAs and the
tion of surfactant (denoted as SFC) and the ultrasonication pro- weights of the nano-particles. The water-cement ratios of all spec-
cesses (denoted as UV, details are given in Section 2.3) for imens were constant as 0.4 considering the water absorption ratio
dispersing the nanoparticles. The details of all the specimens are of the RCAs, based on the previous studies by the authors [9,10]. In
listed in Table 5, where RAC-0% (i.e., NAC) represents natural Table 6, r indicates the replacement ratios of RCAs and the gross
aggregate concrete specimens mixed without RAs; RAC followed weight per cubic meters of coarse aggregates. The RAC specimens
by a percentage represented the RAC with different replacement modified with 1 wt% and 2 wt% of NS, NC and 0.1 wt% of MWCNT
ratios of RAs for plain RAC specimens; For nano-particles modified are used as the mix proportion in the batches of NS-1 and NS-2,
RAC specimens, the front letters ‘‘NS”, ‘‘NC” and ‘‘MWCNT” repre- NC-1 and NC-2, MWCNT-0.1, respectively.
sent the types of RAC specimens modified by different nanoparti-
cles; ‘‘MI” or ‘‘MII” represents the concrete mixing methods as 2.3. Specimen casting and curing
mixing method I and mixing method II which are explained in
the following Section 2.3; the numbers ‘‘1” and ‘‘2” denote the To improve the properties of RAC modified by nano-particles,
weight ratios of NS and NC to cement, the number ‘‘0.1” denotes researchers recommended the two-stage mixing approach (TSMA)
the weight ratios of MWCNT to cement; the last percentages stand to improve the strength and durability [21]. Quantitative studies
for the replacement ratios of RAs; UV means the specimens of NS revealed that the ITZs of concrete were strengthened through

Table 5
Details of specimens in compressive tests and split tensile tests.

No. Specimen Particle Particle dosage of cement Replacement ratio Mixing Ultrasonic Test and age of specimens
type by weight of RAs (r) method vibration
1 RAC-0% (NAC) 0% 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
2 RAC-50% 50% 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
3 RAC-70% 70% 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
4 RAC-100% 100% 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
5 NS-MII-1–0% NS 1% 0% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
6 NS-MII-1–50% NS 1% 50% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
7 NS-MII-1–70% NS 1% 70% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
8 NS-MII-1–100% NS 1% 100% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
9 NS-MII-2–70% NS 2% 70% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
10 NC-MII-2–70% NC 2% 70% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
11 NC-MII-1–70% NC 1% 70% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
12 NS-MI-1–70% NS 1% 70% MI 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
13 NC-MI-1–70% NC 1% 70% MI 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
14 NS-MII-1–70%-UV NS 1% 70% MII UV 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
15 MWCNT-0.1–70% MWCNT 0.1% 70% MII 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
16 MWCNT-0.1–70%-UV MWCNT 0.1% 70% MII UV 3d-, 7d- and 28d-C/28d-T
 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030 5

Table 6
Mix proportions of concrete mixtures.

Mixture Cement (kg/m3) NCA (kg/m3) RCA (kg/m3) NFA (kg/m3) NS (kg/m3) NC (kg/m3) MWCNT (kg/m3) Water (kg/m3) r (%)
NAC 600.9 1041.4 – 520.2 237.5 0
RAC-50% 600.9 520.7 520.7 520.2 237.5 50
RAC-70% 600.9 312.4 729.0 520.2 237.5 70
RAC-100% 600.9 – 1041.4 520.2 237.5 100
NS-1 600.9 312.4 729.0 520.2 6.0 237.5 70
NC-1 600.9 312.4 729.0 520.2 6.0 237.5 70
NS-2 600.9 312.4 729.0 520.2 12.0 237.5 70
NC-2 600.9 312.4 729.0 520.2 12.0 237.5 70
MWCNT-0.1 600.9 312.4 729.0 520.2 0.6 237.5 70

In the table, NFA denotes natural fine aggregates.

TSMA based on the images of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). poured into the mixture and mixed for another 1.5 min. In the sec-
Besides, because the poor solubility of nano-particles and the ond method, namely MII, the nano-particles were also premixed
strong Van der Waals forces among MWCNTs, the nanoparticles with the surfactant diluent for 1 min. The cement, sand and RAs
without pre-dispersion tended to agglomerate [44]. Previous study were firstly mixed for 0.5 min, then all the water was poured in
indicated that the use of surfactant as one alternative method to the mixture and mixed for another 0.5 min. Finally, the nano-
disperse nano-particles and prevent them from agglomeration particles admixture was added into the concrete mixture and
effectively [35–37]. The surfactant is one kind of stabilizer which mixed for 1.5 min.
consists of hydrophilic group and lipophilic group. The surfactant For MWCNT or NS-modified RAC, the alternative ultrasonication
could efficiently attract and wrap outside the nanoparticles into method was used to compare with the traditional hand-up stirring
colloform due to the excellent absorbability. The formed collo- method, since it is well known that both the ultrasonic energy
forms wear the same charge which could avoid the agglomeration could achieve an effective dispersion of nano-particles in water
of the nanoparticle and help stabilize the nanoparticles. Thus, the [59]. Ultrasonication transforms line voltage into mechanical
surfactant of Gum Arabic (GA) was used to promote the dispersion vibrations and these mechanical vibrations could be transferred
of nano-particles in this study. The weight ratio of all the three into the liquid by creating pressure waves. This action causes the
types of nano-particles and the GA was 1:6 [37]. The GA was firstly formation and violent collapse of microscopic bubbles and creates
diluted with one tenth of the concrete mixing water and the nano- millions of shock waves increasing the temperature of the liquid
particles were added into the diluent and mixed with 145 times of mixtures [21]. Although the amount of energy released by each
rotation per minute by a mixer for one min. individual bubble is very small, the cumulative effect could cause
Thus, the mixture of RAC incorporating nano-particles in this extremely high levels of energy to be released and lead to sufficient
study was achieved by two different TSMAs as demonstrated in dispersion of nanoparticles. UV was used during the fabrication of
Fig. 3 based on the research by Li [21]. For the first mixing method, nano-particle liquid admixtures and vibrated for 10 min before the
namely MI, the nano-particles were immersed into the SFC diluent well-dispersed nano-particle admixtures were added into the mix-
and artificially stirred gently in a beaker for 1 min to achieve a uni- ture of concrete [59]. After proper mixing, the fresh concrete was
form dispersion which was macroscopically homogeneous without poured into the specified moulds and kept for 24 h under plastic
visible agglomeration and stratification. They were then added into sheet for maintaining moisture. Then the specimens were
RAs with the other half of the water and further mixed for another demoulded and cured in the standard concrete curing room for
one min. Finally, cement, sand and the rest of mixing water were 3 days, 7 days and 28 days, respectively for different tests.

Fig. 3. Mixing methods [21].

6 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

Fig. 4. Test setups: (a) compressive testing, (b) split tensile test, (3) schematic view of standard cement mortar flexural tensile test.

2.4. Test setup ultrasonication and surfactant processing methods on MWCNT

and NS liquids were evaluated, and the samples were defined as
The compressive and split tensile tests were carried out using a the artificially mixed MWCNT/NS liquid without any process,
high-stiffness servo-hydraulic compressional testing machine with MWCNT/NS incorporating surfactant liquid and MWCNT/NS liquid
a capacity of 20,000 kN as illustrated in Fig. 4(a). Two steel plates with process of UV. It should be pointed out that the trial tests of
were used to balance the pressure. The load control method was NC liquid have not considered here due to the similar dispersed
adopted with the loading speed of 0.5 MPa/s. The split tensile tests mechanism to NS [35]. For plain MWCNT/NS liquid which acted
using the prefabricated molds are shown in Fig. 4(b). The molds for as the control group, the MWCNT/NS nano-particles were mixed
splitting tensile tests could better create a pure split tensile loading with some pure water and manually stirred for 10 min. For
condition for cubic specimens. MWCNT/NS incorporating surfactant liquid, the surfactant was ini-
tially diluted with same amount of water as the control group, then
the MWCNT/NS nano-particles were mixed with the dilution and
3. Process of nanoparticles and experimental setup manually stirred for 10 min. For MWCNT/NS liquid with process
of UV, the MWCNT/NS nano-particles were mixed with same
3.1. Microscope observation amount of water as the control group and the ultrasonic processor
with a cylindrical top was operated into the mixture for 10 min.
The major challenge associated with the incorporation of The NS and MWCNT liquid solutions with and without surfac-
nano-particles in cement-based materials is how to disperse them tant and ultrasonic process were tested and observed using optical
evenly in the matrix. In this section, the dispersing efficiency of microscope. As shown in Fig. 5, the MWCNT liquid mixture without
 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030 7

Fig. 5. Micrographs of MWCNT liquids with different treatment.

Fig. 6. Micrographs of NS liquids with different treatment.

surfactant or ultrasonication tended to stick together indicating a

poor dispersion of the nano-particles. In comparison, for MWCNT
with surfactant (Fig. 5(b)) or ultrasonication (Fig. 5(c)), the disper-
sion of MWCNT tended to be uniform. For NS liquid mixture shown
in Fig. 6, the NS liquid showed somehow a better dispersion than
the plain MWCNT liquid, while for NS liquid with SFC or UV pro-
cess presented more uniform dispersion. In conclusion, the SFC
or UV process were necessary for fabrication of MWCNT liquid,
and the SFC or UV process could result in NS liquid with much bet-
ter dispersion.

3.2. Mechanical tests and results

Nano-particles modified cement mortar samples with or with-

out surfactant or ultrasonication process were tested to investigate
the effect of using these two different additional processes on the
compressive strength and flexural tensile strength of these nano-
particle modified cement mortars at 3d, 7d and 28d. The cement Fig. 7. Compressive strength of cement mortar.
mortar samples with a size of 40  40  160 mm3 were prepared
for the flexural tensile test using a standard cement mortar flexural
tensile testing machine as illustrated in Fig. 4(c) and samples with and construct dense cement samples. The cement mortar speci-
size of 70.7  70.7  70.7 mm3 were conducted for compression mens were demolded after 24 h and placed in the (23 ± 2) °C water
tests. Six categories of cement mortar samples were considered for 6 days, then cured in the concrete standard curing room.
as untreated cement mortar, one NS liquid treated with surfactant The compressive strength and flexural tensile strength of vari-
alone, one NS liquid treated with ultrasonication process alone, one ous cement mortar specimens tested at 3d, 7d and 28d are dis-
MWCNT liquid treated with surfactant alone, one MWCNT liquid played in Figs. 7 and 8, where C indicates the cement. The
with ultrasonication process alone, and one MWCNT liquid treated processing methods are denoted with ‘‘+”, the ‘‘SFC” means the
with both surfactant and ultrasonication treatments. Each category operation of surfactant, the ‘‘UV” means the operation of ultrason-
consisted of six identical samples. It should be pointed out that the ication. For examples, sample C + NS + UV denotes a cement mortar
trial tests of NC liquid have not considered here due to the similar specimen incorporating NS with ultrasonication process, C + MW
dispersed mechanism to NS [35]. The cement to sand ratio and CNT + SFC + UV denotes a cement mortar specimen incorporating
water to cement ratio of the cement mortars were 1:2.5 and 1:2 MWCNT with both surfactant and ultrasonication process.
respectively. The weight ratios of NS and MWCNT were 1 wt% Based on Figs. 7 and 8, both the compressive strength and flex-
and 0.1 wt% of cement weight respectively. The defoamer of poly- ural tensile strength of cement mortar increased with the age rea-
ether mixture was used to suppress the bubbles in cement mortar sonably. The NS or MWCNT treatment improved the both the
8 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

Fig. 8. Flexural tensile strength of cement mortar.

compressive strength and flexural tensile strength of cement mor-

tar slightly, with surfactant and ultrasonication processes, the
improvement tended to be more obvious, especially for the com-
bined treatment of both surfactant and ultrasonication. Hence, all
the nano-particles liquids used in the RAC-RCBA specimens of
the following 3d-, 7d- and 28d-compressive and 28d-split tensile
tests were duilted with surfactant, and the additional ultrasonica-
tion combined with surfactant were performed in two categories of
NS modified and MWCNT modified RAC-RCBA specimens.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Slump of fresh concrete

The slump tests were performed to investigate the workability

of fresh untreated RAC and the nano-particle modified RAC accord-
ing to the standard GB/T 50080-2002 [60]. The average tested
slump values and the coefficients of variation (COV) are shown in
Fig. 9. The slump of untreated RAC without nano-particles
decreased with an increase of the replacement ratio of the RAs.
The slump of RAC decreased compared to that of NAC (i.e., speci-
mens RAC-0%). The reasons might be attributed to the large poros-
ity and the high water absorption ratio of the recycled clay brick
aggregates which led to a reduction of mixing free water and an
increase of the viscosity of the mix. As seen in Fig. 9(b), the slump
of NS-modified RAC also decreased with an increase of the replace-
ment ratio of RAs, and the slump decreased significantly with the
increase of the NS dosage from 1% to 2%. This might be interpreted
by the large surface area and more free water absorption of the NS
particles [27]. The first TSMA method (i.e., MI) adopting UV
approach also decreased the slump of the RAC, which could be
explained by the higher water absorption with better dispersion
of NS admixture. For NC-modified RAC, the similar effect of ultra-
sonication and MI on the slump was also found as shown in
Fig. 9(c). The slumps of NC-modified RAC were larger than those
of the corresponding NS-modified RAC. The MWCNT-modified
RAC exhibited the lowest slump considering the positive effect of
MWCNT on the early hydration process of the cementitious matrix
[56]. Overall, both the existing RAs and the addition of nano- Fig. 9. Slump values of RAC and RAC modified with nanoparticles: a) untreated RAC
materials could weaken the workability of RAC due to the high b) NS modified RAC and c) NC modified RAC and MWCNT modified RAC.
water absorptions of the RAs and the three types of nano-
particles used in this study. The processes of promoting the disper- 4.2. Failure modes and crack propagation
sion using the surfactant and ultrasonication approaches resulted
in the reduction in the slump values of RAC due to the enlarged The failure modes of nano-particle modified RAC under com-
surface area and increased water absorption of the nano-particles. pressive load were observed at different stages of the loading. It
 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030 9

Fig. 10. Failure modes under compression load: a) untreated NAC, b) untreated RAC and c) 1 wt% NS modified RAC.

Fig. 11. Failure modes under split tensile load: a) untreated NAC, b) untreated RAC and c) NS modified RAC.

was found that the crack propagating process was similar for all
the RAC specimens. There were small cracks developed in the con-
crete when the compressive loading was within 30% of the peak
load and these micro cracks concentrated around the ITZ according
to the previous studies [18,23]. During the second stage when the
compressive loading was more than 30% but lower than 80% of the
peak load, more longitudinal cracks occurred than the transvers
cracks. When the compressive load was beyond 80% but less than
100% of peak load, the cracks developed dramatically with tearing
sounds. After reaching the peak load, the external mortar of RAC
cubic specimens fell off and the specimen was crushed.
The final crack patterns of untreated NAC and RAC, NS modified
RAC cubic specimens are shown in Fig. 10. In general, the failure
patterns of different nano-particle modified RAC were the same
as that of NAC or that of RAC with a diagonal pyramid rupture.
Compared with the NAC, most RAs in the RAC were crushed under
the compressive load, while most coarse NAs maintained unbro-
ken. This phenomenon could be interpreted by the lower crushing
index of NAs (i.e., 10.7%) compared to that of the RAs (i.e., 17.3%).
Fig. 12. Compressive strength of untreated RAC.
Fig. 11 shows the failure modes of untreated NAC and RAC, NS
modified RAC cubes under split tensile load. The ruptured patterns
of NS modified RAC were also similar to that of untreated NAC or reduction in the compressive strength of RAC became insignificant
the untreated RAC with one single longitudinal crack. Overall, the with an increase in the replacement ratio of RAs. Specifically, the
addition of nano-materials did not change the failure mode of difference in the compressive strength was marginal when the
the RAC under either the compressive or split tensile load. replacement ratios increased from 70% to 100%. For instance, when
the replacement ratio of RAs increased from 0% to 50%, the reduc-
4.3. Compressive strength tion ratios in the compressive strength for RAC at 3d, 7d and 28d
were 10.6%, 10.6% and 10.6%, respectively. While increasing the
The results of compressive strength for the different RAC spec- replacement ratios from 70% to 100%, the reduction ratios in the
imens tested at 3-day, 7-day and 28-day are listed in Figs. 12–15. compressive strength of RAC tested at 3d, 7d, and 28d were 5.9%,
For untreated RAC cubic specimens with different replacement 5.8% and 4.6%, respectively as Fig. 12.
ratios of RAs, an increase in replacement ratio of the RAs led to a Fig. 13 shows the compressive strength of NS modified RAC
reduction in the 3d- and 7d-compressive strength due to the specimens with different replacement ratios of RAs tested at 3d,
higher crushing index of RAs compared with that of NAs. The 7d and 28d. Generally, the compressive strength of the specimens
10 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

increased with the extension of the curing duration. The 7d- and
28d-compressive strength of RAC specimens with NS incorporation
increased compared to those of untreated RAC corresponding to
the same replacement ratios of the RAs, as shown in Figs. 10 and
11. For 7d-compressive strength of RAC incorporating NS speci-
mens, the increments compared to those of untreated RAC coun-
terparts at 7d were around 4.0%–12.3%. For 28d-compressive
strength of RAC incorporating NS specimens, the increments com-
pared to those of untreated RAC counterparts at 28d were around
4.1%-16.8%. It could be indirectly found from the improvement on
the compressive strength that the NS plays one crucial role in fill-
ing the micro voids of both coarse and fine aggregates and promot-
ing the mix of concrete mixture. The 3d-compressive strength of
NS-modified RAC specimens showed an insignificant trend that
the 3d-compressive strength of NS-modified RAC with 0% and
100% specimens were slightly lower than those of corresponding
untreated RAC with 0% and 100% specimens. The possible reasons
for the opposite variation trends of the early-age compressive
strength of NS modified RAC could be the reaction duration of
Fig. 13. Compressive strength of NS-modified RAC with different replacement the NS with the cement mortar and mixing water, and that post-
ratios of RAs.
poned the development of early-age compressive strength.
Fig. 14 showed the 3d-, 7d- and 28d-compressive strength of the
NS-modified RAC with different TSMAs (i.e., MI and MII), dosages of
NS (i.e., 1 wt% and 2 wt%) and the participation of ultrasonication.
Generally, the specimens with an increase of NS dosage or ultrason-
ication process showed a higher 3d-, 7d- and 28d-compressive
strength, e.g., the NS-MII-2-70% specimens with 2% dosage of NS
and NS-MII-1-70%-UV specimens with ultrasonication process pre-
sented 15.8% and 20.3% higher 28d-compressive strength than that
of the NS-MII-1-70% specimen, respectively. The increased strength
could be interpreted by more NS used and better dispersion with
extra ultrasonication that led to a better filling effect of the internal
voids, which accelerating the motion of nano-particles, and further
promoting the nano-particle dispersion and mixing with the con-
crete. For specimens NS-MI-1-70% and NS-MII-1-70%, it could be
found that the concrete mixture by the first TSMA could promote
the 3d- and 7d-compressive strength of RAC better than the speci-
mens treated by the second TSMA, but the first TSMA resulted in
less increments of 28d-compressive strength than the specimens
with the second TSMA. This might be because the NS admixture
were initially mixed with dry RAs and the NS preferentially densi-
Fig. 14. Compressive strength of NS-modified RAC with different mixing methods
fied the microstructures of RAs. While the initial improvement of
and dosages of NS. NS was concentrated the promoting function on the ITZ-1 regard-
less of another two ITZs in Fig. 1(b). For the second TSMA, the NS
admixture was mixed with the mixture of all concrete raw materi-
als so that the NS could benefit for all ITZs and promote the final
compressive strength of RAC more apparently.
The Fig. 15 showed the 3d-, 7d- and 28d-compressive strength
of respective NC modified RAC specimens and MWCNT modified
RAC specimens. The addition of NC improved the 28d-
compressive strength of RAC and 3d-, 7d- and 28d-compressive
strength increased more with an increase of NC dosages, while
for NC modified RAC specimens with 1 wt% NC admixture, the
3d- and 7d-compressive strength were lower than those of the
untreated RAC specimens, indicating the postpone of the early-
age strength development when applying NC in RAC. The NC mod-
ified RAC specimens with MII mixing method exhibited higher 3d-,
7d- and 28d-compressive strength than NC modified RAC speci-
mens with MI. The MWCNT modification resulted in the highest
growth of 28d-compressive strength of RAC with the least dosage
compared to NS modified RAC and NC modified RAC. The ultrason-
ication process also increased the compressive strength of the
MWCNT-modified RAC. The compressive strength increments of
MWCNT-modified RAC with and without ultrasonication com-
pared to that of the untreated RAC were 38.7% and 42.2%,
Fig. 15. Compressive strength NC modified RAC and MWCNT modified RAC. respectively.
 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030 11

Table 7
Comparison of compressive strength with available test results in literature [27,54–55]

Data source Increments of compressive strength (MPa)

0.75% NS 1.5% NS 1% NS 2% NS 3% NS
7d 28d 7d 28d 7d 28d 7d 28d 7d 28d
Li et al. [54,55] – – – – 6.0 6.1 7.0 8.5 – –
Bibhuti et al. [27] 1.1 2.8 1.7 4.3 – – – – 3.8 6.2
Present study – – – – 3.9 4.8 6.3 10.9 – –
Relative error 0.94 MPa for 7d, 1.66 MPa for 28d-compressive strength

Therefore, an increase of the dosage of both NS and NC incorpo-

ration for RAC (up to 2 wt% of cement) increased the 3d-, 7d- and
28d-compressive strength of RAC. Among these three kinds of
nano-materials, the MWCNT modification exhibited the largest
improvement on the compressive strength of the RAC, followed
by the 2 wt% NS modification, the 2 wt% NC modification, the
1 wt% NS modification and the 1 wt% NC modification successively.
The second TSMA resulted in superior compressive strength of the
RAC compared with the first TSMA, and the treated specimens with
ultrasonication combined with SFC treatment process also exhib-
ited higher compressive strength than those with SFC treatment
alone. The improvement on the compressive strength of nanopar-
ticles modified RAC could be predicted from the former compres-
sion tests on cement mortar. The compressive strength of
concrete could be generally determined by the cement strength
and water-cement ratio, since the nanoparticle admixtures have
optimistic influence on the compressive strength of cement mor-
tar, the resulting promotion on the compressive strength of con-
crete was foresaw available.
It should be noted here that the test compressive strength was
also compared with experimental results obtained in the existing
literatures, as listed in Table 7 [27,54,55]. The 7d and 28d compres-
sive strength of similar specimens were provided. For Li’s studies
[54,55], the 7d and 28d compressive strength of NS modified recy-
cled concrete specimens with 1% and 2% dosages of NS were
offered, the increment of compressive strength varied from 20.7%
to 24.9%. In study of Bibhuti [27], the dosages of NS were 0.75%,
1.5% and 3%, respectively, and the 7d and 28d compressive
strength of NS modified recycled concrete specimens were also
given. Considering the differences of test set in above studies, the
relative errors of 7d and 28d compressive strength were the mean
deviation based on the classification as low NS dosage category
(0.75%, 1% and 1.5%) and high NS dosage category (2% and 3%),
respectively. The relative errors were 0.94 MPa for 7d and
1.66 MPa for 28d-compressive strength, respectively, indicating
the reasonability and accuracy of the data in present study.

4.4. Split tensile strength Fig. 16. Variation of split tensile strength: a) untreated RAC and NS-modified RAC
with different replacement ratios of RAs, b) NS-modified RAC, NC-modified RAC and
4.4.1. Tested results and discussion MWCNT-modified RAC with different mixing methods and dosages of NS or NC.
Fig. 16 shows the variation of split tensile strength of nano-
particle modified RAC. As shown in Fig. 16(a), the split tensile
strength of both untreated RAC and RAC incorporating nano-SiO2 The MII mixing method used in modified RAC exhibited slightly
decreased with an increase of the replacement ratios of the RAs. higher split tensile strength than the specimen treated by MI, e.g.,
All the three types of nanoparticles used in the RAC improved the split tensile strength of NS modified RAC using MII was 2.4%
the split tensile strength, the MWCNT modification with the least larger than that of using MI, and the split tensile strength of NC
dosages exhibited the most remarkable enhancement in the split modified RAC using MII was 0.4% larger than that of using MI. Bet-
tensile strength of the RAC, i.e., 16.9%–20.4% increment compared ter effects of MII over MI could be due to the same reasons as that
to corresponding plain RAC-RCBA specimens with the same 70% in the scenario of compression tests in Section 4.2: MII resulted in a
replacement ratios of RAs, while those increments of NS modifica- comprehensive enhancement in the all the three ITZs in Fig. 1(b),
tion were around 6.0%–20.8% and 4.9%–11.4% for NC modification. while the first TSMA only acted on the ITZ-1 of the RAs. Neverthe-
An increase in dosage of both NS and NC also caused an increase in less, the ultrasonication process presented a slight improvement
split tensile strength of the RAC, i.e., 7.3% increment rate of 2% on the split tensile resistance on the RAC when incorporating NS
dosage of NS modified RAC than 1% NS dosage, 5.6% increment rate or MWCNT, and that was different from the scenario of compres-
of 2% dosage of NC modified RAC than 1% NC dosage. sion test. The cause for this difference could be that the split tensile
12 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

Table 8 process could not change the split tensile strength of concrete
Comparison of split tensile strength with available test results in literature [27]. itself.
Data source Increments of 28d-split tensile strength (MPa) The increased split tensile strength of nanoparticles modified
0.75% NS 1.5% NS 1% NS 2% NS 3% NS RAC could also be expected from the increased flexural tensile
strength of cement mortar. As explained, the strength of natural
Bibhuti et al. [27] 0.14 0.24 – – 0.34
Present study – – 0.17 0.33 –
aggregates and sand were generally much higher than the strength
Relative error 0.017 MPa for 28d-split tensile strength of set cement, the rupture plane of concrete generally occurred on
the interface between cement and aggregates or on the cement.
The strength of concrete mainly depends on the strength of the
Table 9 set cement and the interface with aggregates, which directly deter-
Formulations of relationship between compressive strength and split tensile strength mine the cement strength and water-cement ratio. Therefore, the
of concrete in different concrete design codes.
promotion of split tensile strength of RAC would consequently
Split tensile strength occur.
p Besides, the test split tensile strength in this present study was
ACI 318 [56] f st ¼ 0:56  f c
GB 50,010 [57] f st ¼ 0:19  f c
0:75 also compared with the experimental results provided by Bibhuti
CEB [58]  2=3 [27], as listed in Table 8. The average difference was barely
8
f st ¼ 1:56  f c10
0.017 MPa for 28d-split tensile strength, indicating the reliability
EHE [59] f st ¼ 0:21  f c
2=3
of the tests in present study.
NBR 6118 [60] 2=3
f st ¼ 0:3  f c

4.4.2. Evaluation by design standards

A comparative study between the test results and the split ten-
strength is primarily dependent on the split tensile strength of sile strength values calculated by formulations presented in differ-
mixture materials themselves, e.g., the split tensile strength of con- ent concrete design codes (Table 9 [56–60]) was conducted and
crete itself or the effect of nano-materials, and the ultrasonication shown in Fig. 17, where fst is the predicted split tensile strength,

Fig. 17. Comparison of split tensile strength with Standard formulas: (a) untreated RAC, (b) NS modified RAC with different replacement ratios of RAs, (c) NS-modified RAC
with different mixing methods and dosages of NS, (d) NC modified RAC and MWCNT modified RAC.
 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030 13

Based on Fig. 17, the test data were coincided with the calcu-
lated values based on Spanish code formula [59], and other code
formulas overestimated the split tensile strength values.
Furthermore, the split tensile strength-compressive strength
relationship for application in all three types of nano-particle mod-
ified RAC and untreated RAC was regressed based on the formula in
EHE [59] and displayed as Fig. 18:
0:589
f st ¼ 0:257f c ð2Þ
The predicted values based on the modified formula were com-
pared with the experimental results shown in Fig. 19. The pre-
dicted results matched the experimental split tensile strength
quite well with average relative error of 0.62%.

5. Conclusions

This paper investigated the mechanical properties of recycled

aggregate concrete (RAC; with recycled clay brick aggregates
Fig. 18. Modified curves of split tensile strength. (RCBA) as the coarse aggregates) modified by nano-particles, i.e.
nano-SiO2 (NS), nano-CaCO3 (NC) and multi-wall carbon nanotubes
(MWCNTs). Two experimental phases were carried out. In the first
stage, nano-particle liquid with different mixing methods, i.e. sur-
factant and ultrasonication, were tested and analyzed by micro-
scope and flexural tensile loading to identify the most effective
mixing method for dispersing nano-particles in water liquid. In
the second stage, experimental work was conducted to investigate
the effects of replacement ratios of RAs in RAC (i.e., 0%, 50%, 70%
and 100%), type of nanoparticles (i.e. NS, NC and MWCNT), mixing
methods (i.e., MI and MII,), nano-particle liquid process of ultra-
sonication and surfactant, dosages of nanoparticles (i.e., 1 wt%
and 2 wt% of NS and 1 wt% and 2 wt% of NC, 0.1 wt% of MWCNT)
on the workability and mechanical properties of nano-particle
modified RAC specimens. The study revealed that:

1. Both the processes of surfactant and ultrasonication improved

the dispersion of all the three types of nanoparticles used in this
study.
2. The slump values of both untreated RAC and nano-particle
modified RAC decreased with an increase of the replacement
ratios of the RAs considering the porous characteristic and high
Fig. 19. Comparison between test data and Eq. (2) calculated values. water absorption of the RAs. With an increase of dosage of NS or
NC, the slump decreased significantly.
3. The compressive strength of untreated RAC and nano-particle
modified RAC decreased with an increase of the replacement
fc is the corresponding compressive strength of specimens. The ratios of RAs. The addition of all the three types of nanoparticles
compressive strength (fc) for all the formulas listed in Table 9 used in this study could improve the 3d-, 7d- and 28d-
referred to 28d-compressive strength based on tests on cubic spec- compressive strength of RAC.
imens. The cubic specimens with size of 150  150  150 mm3 or 4. The split tensile strength of untreated RAC and nanoparticle-
cylindrical specimens with size of diameter  height = 150  300 modified RAC also decreased with an increase of replacement
mm2 are generally used as the standard specimens in the split ten- ratios of RAs, the split tensile strength of RAC incorporating
sile strength test of concrete. It should be noticed that the split ten- NS or NC increased with an increase of dosages of NS or NC.
sile strength in all the standard relations referred to the split 5. The tested split tensile strengths were compared to the pre-
tensile strength of cylindrical specimens. Therefore, a correction dicted values from the formulas given in five different stan-
factor of 0.8 is adopted for converting the tested 28-day compres- dards based on the relationship between compressive
sive strength (fc) of cubic specimens to cylindrical strength [61]. strength and split tensile strength. Besides the Spanish code
Since the cubic specimens were selected to test the split tensile [59], other codes overestimated the split tensile strength. The
strength in this research, the size effect was considered in the code modified split tensile strengths-compressive strength relation-
calculated values as Eq. (1) [62], where the f st;150 is the 28-day split ship formula was regressed and evaluated.
tensile strength of cubic specimens with size of 150  150  150
mm3, A is the area of split surface. Therefore, the relationship Overall, this study confirmed that the nano-particle modified
between the calculated split tensile strength values f st;code of cylin- RAC is promising for structural application with desirable mechan-
drical specimens based on the codes and the tested cubic speci- ical properties. In the future study, the effects of different experi-
mens f st;150 in this research was f st;code =f st;150 = 0.83. mental parameters such as wider ranges of dosages of nano-
particles, surfactants of specimens, and flexural loading responses
f st =f st;150 ¼ 3:606A0:136 ð1Þ need to be evaluated.
14 C. Gao et al. / Construction and Building Materials 241 (2020) 118030

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