Exploring the Surface Chemistry for the Stabilization of Bismuth Titanate Fine Particle Suspensions in Cement Systems

Introduction. The evolution of the construction industry in its current stage calls for the alteration of traditional building materials through the incorporation of nano- and fine-dispersed additives. These additions confer new, unique attributes to cement-based construction materials, enabling control over structure formation processes. Consequently, this allows for the creation of materials with specifically defined characteristics. Additives can be introduced into the cement composite during the joint grinding with clinker minerals, as a component of dry building mixture, or in the form of a suspension instead of mixing water. Therefore, it is essential to obtain fine particles suspensions resistant to aggregation and sedimentation. Thus, the purpose of this study is to obtain stabilized suspensions of bismuth titanate fine particles for cement systems and to study the properties of modified cement stone. Materials and methods. The purpose of this work was to establish the optimal concentration of polycarboxylate plasticizer in industrial water, necessary for the stabilization of fine bismuth titanate suspensions using surface tension and conductometric determination methods, the sedimentation stability of the obtained suspensions and the effect of ultrasonic exposure, as well as the physical and mechanical characteristics of cement stone modified with the obtained suspensions. Results and discussion. In order to establish the optimal concentration of the plasticizer necessary to obtain stable suspensions of bismuth titanate particles, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) for the plasticizer was determined with tap water as the dispersed medium. The CMC value was 1.3 g/l. If the concentration exceeds CMC, the process of micelle formation begins. In the micellar form, the plasticizer no longer provides stabilizing effect on the additive particles, therefore, the concentration of the plasticizer should be lower than the CMC. It was also found that ultrasound exposure increases the sedimentation stability of suspensions. The resulting stabilized suspensions were used instead of mixing water to obtain modified cement stone samples. There is an increase in the compressive strength of cement stone samples obtained after the introduction of fine bismuth titanate into the cement composite in the form of water suspensions stabilized by ultrasonic treatment with concentrations of 10, 30 and 50 g/l. The increase in compressive strength of modified samples compared to reference sample was from 24 to 33 MPa at first day age (by 13, 25 and 38% respectively), and from 80 to 93 MPa at 28 days age (by 4, 9 and 16%). Compressive strength of samples modified with bismuth titanate suspensions after ultrasonication compared to reference sample with plasticizer increased mostly at the first and third days age: from 29 to 42 MPa (by 31, 38 and 45%) and from 53 to 70 MPa (by 28, 30 and 32%) respectively. Conclusion. As a result of the research carried out in this study, the Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC) of a polycarboxylate plasticizer was determined, optimal for stabilizing fine-dispersed additive of bismuth titanate for cement systems, the effectiveness of ultrasonic treatment to achieve sedimentation stability of the obtained suspensions of the additive was confirmed, an increase in the strength characteristics of modified cement stone samples was established both in the initial hardening periods and at 28 days age. The results allow to consider a cement composite with fine bismuth titanate as a basis for obtaining building materials of new generation.