FTIR and XRD Characterization of the Cements Available in Commercial Market of Nepal

Abstract

In the engineering material characterizations and analytical domains where the specific physicochemical properties of the materials are probed through various sophisticated instrumental tools and techniques, the XRD and FTIR spectroscopy stand as the standalone applications as the former discloses the crystallographic structure, crystallite/grain sizes, and the chemical compositions of the specific materials nondestructively while the latter reveals details about the IR active vibrations modes of each covalent bond of their chemical constituents. In the present studies, we employ both of these techniques, and characterize the specifically selected variable manufactured ready-to-use dry OPC type cements available in the commercial markets of Nepal. The former technique derived the specific 2\(\theta\) value deterministic for identifying the closely packed interatomic layers with the significant levels of CaCO3, Ca(OH)2, and arsenic As5+ based AsO43- unit bearing crystalline phases in each samples. The calculated crystallite sizes of them are found as equal as that reported for the calcite based OPC cements, and are directly adopted to depict their utmost intermixing propensities with the carbon dust and hence, act as the most potential evidence of unlocking the possibility of inventing cement-carbon composites based supercapacitors and conductive devices, and of speculating their distinguishable hydration rates and setting times. And, the latter technique produced intense IR active bands in the designated wave number regions are used to confirm their silicate (SiO42-) tetrahedra, amorphous CaCO3 phases & the CO32-unit holding chemical constituents, 2CaO.SiO2 and 3CaO.SiO2 type chemical compounds explicitly. The presence of diffused type IR bands specific to the Al2O3 based chemical compounds signified that all of them contains significant levels of the alumina based hardening elements, but the complete absence of the peak typical to the Mg-O signified that none of them contains magnesia. The similar analyses of the IR bands further reveal that none of them possesses heavy and active type CaCO3, but have trace amounts of the AsO43- based chemical compounds as predicted by the XRD. The intensive peak area and the depth intensity studies of the designated IR bands speculate the dissimilar quantitative proportions and percentage compositions of these chemical constituents in them. The authors believe that the general results presented herewith illuminate the fundamental chemical constituents to be incorporated compulsorily into the OPC type cements so that they function normally and exhibit good cementitious abilities.