Colloidal nano-silica (CNS) was used to improve the mechanical and impermeability characteristics of mortar in this study. The samples were prepared with 0%, 1%, 2% and 3% (solid content) CNS addition. The mechanical strength and permeability of each mixture was studied, and the mechanism behind was revealed by hydration heat evolution, XRD, DSC-DTG, 29Si MAS-NMR and SEM-EDS analysis. The compressive strength and impermeability characteristics of mortars incorporating CNS were significantly improved. The experimental results demonstrated that the incorporation of CNS promoted the early hydration process of cement, thus increasing the polymerization degree of hydrated calcium silicate, decreasing the porosity, and improving the microstructure of mortar. Furthermore, 3% CNS decreased the Ca/Si ratio of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) from 3.18 to 2.22, thus the enrichment of CH was reduced and the density and strength were improved. This was mainly because of the high pozzolanic activity of CNS, which consumed plenty of calcium hydroxide and converted to C-S-H. Besides, nanoscale CNS and C-S-H particles filled the voids between hydrates, thus refining the pore size, increasing the complexity of pores, and improving the microstructure of ITZ which contributed to the improvement of the impermeability.
Keywords: colloidal nano-silica; impermeability; interfacial transition zone; mechanical properties; pore structure.