Abstract
This paper proposes that Ca2+ in steel slag (SS) has a weak early hydration activity when SS and granulated blast-furnace slag (GBFS) are used as alkali-activated cementitious materials. Herein, alkaline activators and Ca(OH)2 are used as indicators of Ca2+ reaction in the SS and GBFS system. It is found that the 28-day compressive strength of the cementitious material with 2 wt% Ca(OH)2 addition increased by 25.9% compared with the blank. Hydration products and microstructures were characterized by XRD, SEM/EDS, FTIR and TG/DTA. Results show that the addition of Ca(OH)2 increased the content of active calcium ions in the reaction system, which promotes the reaction and the formation of C–S–H gel, resulting in an enhanced compressive strength ultimately. It can be also concluded that SS is not suitable as a sole precursor for the production of building materials on a large scale due to the weak early activity of Ca2+ in SS.
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