Strength and microstructural characteristics of chemically activated fly ash-cement systems

The use of fly ash as a cement replacement material increases the long-term strength and durability of concrete. Despite these great benefits, the use of fly ash is limited due to the low early strength of fly ash concrete. To eliminate this problem, many studies have been conducted on accelerating the pozzolanic properties of fly ash. The study reported below investigated the strength and microstructural characteristics of fly ash-cement systems containing three kinds of activators—Na₂SO₄, K₂SO₄, and triethanolamine—to accelerate the early strength of fly ash mortars. Through the use of thermal gravity analysis, it was demonstrated that the activators not only decreased or maintained the amount of Ca(OH)₂ products, but also increased the production of ettringite at early ages. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microcopy, and mercury intrusion porosimetry also confirmed that in the early curing stages of fly ash-cement pastes containing activators, large amounts of ettringite were formed, resulting in a reduction in the pore size ranging from 0.01 to 5 μm. The research results support the supposition that the addition of small amounts of activators is a viable solution for increasing the early-age compressive strength of fly ash concrete.