On the incorporation of nano TiO2to inhibit concrete deterioration in the marine environment

Zhen Li; Sufen Dong; Ashraf Ashour; Xinyue Wang; Vijay Kumar Thakur; Baoguo Han; Surendra P Shah

doi:10.1088/1361-6528/ac3f55

On the incorporation of nano TiO₂to inhibit concrete deterioration in the marine environment

Nanotechnology. 2022 Jan 5;33(13). doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac3f55.

Authors

Zhen Li¹, Sufen Dong², Ashraf Ashour³, Xinyue Wang⁴, Vijay Kumar Thakur^{5

6}, Baoguo Han⁴, Surendra P Shah^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ College of Aerospace and Civil Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, People's Republic of China.
² School of Transportation and Logistics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, People's Republic of China.
³ Faculty of Engineering & Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford, BD7 1DP, United Kingdom.
⁴ School of Civil Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Biorefining and Advanced Materials Research Center, SRUC, Kings Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, United Kingdom.
⁶ School of Engineering, University of Petroleum & Energy Studies (UPES), Dehradun 248007, Uttarakhand, India.
⁷ University of Texas at Arlington (Presidential Distinguished Professor), Arlington, TX 76019, United States of America.
⁸ Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (Emeritus Professor), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States of America.

PMID: 34874280
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6528/ac3f55

Abstract

To develop high deterioration resistance concrete for marine infrastructures, two types of nano TiO₂(NT) including anatase phase NT and silica surface-treated rutile phase NT were incorporated into concrete. The fabricated NT modified concrete was then put into the marine environment for 21 months in this study. The effects and mechanisms of two types of NT on the deterioration of concrete in the marine environment were investigated from three aspects, including seawater physical and biological as well as chemical actions on concrete with NT. Under the seawater physical action, the exposed degree of coarse sand particles on the surface of control concrete is greater than that of concrete with NT. Owing to the microorganism biodegradation property of NT, the elimination and inhibition rates of concrete with NT on microorganisms can reach up to 76.98% and 96.81%, respectively. In addition, the surface biofilm thickness of concrete can be reduced by 49.13% due to the inclusion of NT. In the aspect of seawater chemical action, NT can increase the pH value inside concrete by 0.81, increase the degree of polymerization of C-S-H gel, and improve the interfacial transition zone between cement paste and aggregate in concrete. Compared to anatase phase NT, silica surface-treated rutile phase NT is more effective in improving the deterioration resistance of concrete in the marine environment. It can be concluded that incorporating NT can inhibit the deterioration of concrete in the marine environment.

Keywords: concrete; mechanisms; microorganism biodegradation; nano-titanium dioxide; seawater deterioration resistance.