Investigation on the effectiveness of electrolyzed water in controlling the early age properties of cement mortar

• Published in: Construction & building materials 2019-06, Vol.211, p.1-11
• Main Authors: Chakraborty, Sumit, Mandal, Romio, Chattopadhyay, Saswata, Chakraborty, Subrata
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cement additives; Cement admixture; Electrolysis (Chemistry); Electrolyzed water; Hydration; Mechanical properties; Microstructure; Mortar; Porosity; Water
• ISSN: 0950-0618; 1879-0526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.237

•Revealing impact of electrolyzed water as a cement set accelerating admixture.•A non-chemical process to develop an alternative of cement set accelerator.•Assessment of early age properties of electrolyzed water-based mortar (EM).•Minimization of early age damaging risk of masonry products.•Exploration of early strength improvement mechanism of EM. The use of electrolyzed water is expected to be a unique alternative approach to early repair of structural concrete and step up the construction process. The present investigation reveals the effectiveness of electrolyzed water in controlling the physical and mechanical properties of cement mortar at the fresh and early hardened states. The mortar samples were made using distilled water and 30 min electrolyzed water to compare their properties. The effect of the electrolyzed water on the performance of mortar was evaluated by analyzing setting times, flowability, dry and wet bulk density, apparent porosity, water absorption, and mechanical strengths such as compressive and flexural strength. Analyzing the results critically, it is demonstrated that the use of electrolyzed water sets the cement faster (reduces initial and final setting time by 41 min and 64 min, respectively) and shows higher compressive (17, 16, and 13%) and flexural (19, 12, and 10%) strengths than that of the normal distilled water-based mortar at the early ages of curing (1, 3, and 7 days of curing, respectively). Finally, based on the microstructure analysis and X-ray diffraction, a plausible mechanistic model is designed to elucidate the overall performances of the electrolyzed water-based mortar.