Effect and mechanism of nano-Ca_(10)(PO_(4))_(6)(OH)_(2)additive on compressive strength of calcium aluminate cement at high temperature

Calcium aluminate cement(CAC)is widely used as a binder for refractory materials,and thus the improvement in compressive strength is of vital importance for CAC applied at high temperature.For this purpose,nano-Ca_(10)(PO_(4))_(6)(OH)_(2)additive with a ratio of 0.5–1.5 mass%was added with the water-cement ratio to be 0.4.X-ray diffraction and isothermal calorimetry analysis demonstrate that nano-Ca_(10)(PO_(4))_(6)(OH)_(2)additive can shorten the hydration process and promote the formation of main hydrates of CaAl2O4·10H2O(CAH10)and Ca2Al2O5·8H2O(C2AH8).In addition,scanning electron microscopy results suggest that nano-Ca_(10)(PO_(4))_(6)(OH)_(2)can protect CAH10 and C2AH8 from being destroyed during the calcination,guaranteeing that these thin lamellar crystals are intertwined to form the denser microstructure.Benefited from above effects,nano-Ca_(10)(PO_(4))_(6)(OH)_(2)can obviously improve the compressive strength of the CAC mortar samples cured for 7 d after calcination at 1100°C,while the improving effect is dependent upon its contents.Especially,compared with the one without the additive,the compressive strength of the sample with 1.0%nano-Ca_(10)(PO_(4))_(6)(OH)_(2)is increased by 14%.