Boron carbide nanostructures: A prospective material as an additive in concrete

• Main Authors: Singh, Paviter, Kaur, Gurpreet, Kumar, Rohit, Kumar, Umesh, Singh, Kulwinder, Kumar, Manjeet, Bala, Rajni, Meena, Ramovatar, Kumar, Akshay
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.5032599

In recent decades, manufacture and ingestion of concrete have increased particularly in developing countries. Due to its low cost, safety and strength, concrete have become an economical choice for protection of radiation shielding material in nuclear reactors. As boron carbide has been known as a neutron absorber material makes it a great candidate as an additive in concrete for shielding radiation. This paper presents the synthesis of boron carbide nanostructures by using ball milling method. The X-ray diffraction pattern, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope analysis confirms the formation of boron carbide nanostructures. The effect of boron carbide nanostructures on the strength of concrete samples was demonstrated. The compressive strength tests of concrete cube B4C powder additives for 0 % and 5 % of total weight of cement was compared for different curing time period such as 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. The high compressive strength was observed when 5 wt % boron carbide nanostructures were used as an additive in concrete samples after 28 days curing time and showed significant improvement in strength.