In-situ release and sequestration of CO in cement composites using LTA zeolites.

This paper investigates the impact of in-situ release and sequestration of CO on the compressive strength, volume of permeable voids, phase change, hydration reaction, and micro-morphology of cement mortars. Two Linde Type A (LTA) zeolites with micro-pore dimensions of 5 Å and 4 Å (i.e., LTA 5A and 4A zeolites) were employed as CO carriers herein. The incorporation of 312 wt% plain LTA 5A and 4A zeolites increases the 1-day compressive strength of the mortars. However, the use of plain LTA 5A zeolite shows marginal contributions to the 7 and 28-day compressive strengths of the mortars, whilst using plain LTA 4A zeolite even deteriorates their 7 and 28-day compressive strengths. The micro-structural analyses reveal that the addition of LTA zeolites promotes the cement hydration and improves the mean chain length (MCL) of calcium aluminosilicate hydrates (C-A-S-H). Nevertheless, this introduces numerous weak points or even a porous structure to the cement matrix. In contrast, in-situ release of CO via LTA zeolites significantly enhances the compressive strengths of the mortars at various ages, as this can further facilitate the hydration evolution and improve the MCL of C-A-S-H. Moreover, in-situ release of CO brings an incremental content of calcium carbonates. The calcium carbonate contents in the specimens containing 12 wt% LTA 5A and 4A zeolites are increased by 5.3 wt% and 4.8 wt%, respectively. This leads to homogenous distributions of calcite with a grain size of 150600 nm. Thus, LTA 5A zeolite outperforms LTA 4A zeolite with regard to CO uptake and the corresponding mechanical properties. This work presents in initial exploration into the application of porous pozzolanic materials in conjunction of CO in cement-based materials.