• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.219-229
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• 2022

Bentonite is being considered as a candidate for buffer material in geological disposal systems for high-level radioactive wastes. In this study, the effect of cement-bentonite interactions on bentonite alteration was investigated by reviewing the literature on studies of cement-bentonite interactions. The major bentonite alteration by hyperalkaline fluids produced by the interaction of cementitious materials with groundwater includes cation exchange, montmorillonite dissolution, secondary mineral precipitation, and illitization. When the hyperalkaline leachate from the reaction of the cementitious material with the groundwater comes into contact with bentonite, montmorillonite, the main component of bentonite, is dissolved and a small amount of secondary minerals such as zeolite, calcium silicate hydrate, and calcite is produced. When montmorillonite is continuously dissolved, the physicochemical properties of bentonite may change, which may ultimately causes changes in bentonite performance as a buffer material such as adsorption capacity, swelling capacity, and hydraulic conductivity. In addition, the bentonite alteration is affected by various factors such as temperature, reaction period, pressure, composition of pore water, bentonite constituent minerals, chemical composition of montmorillonite, and types of interlayer cations. This study can be used as basic information for the long-term stability verification study of the buffer material in the geological disposal system for high-level radioactive wastes.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.627-635
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• 2019

Cement-asbestos slate is the main asbestos containing material. It is a product made by combining 10~20% of asbestos and cement components. Man- and weathering-induced degradation of the cement-asbestos slates makes them a source of dispersion of asbestos fibres and represents a priority cause of concern. When the asbestos enters the human body, it causes cellular damage or deformation, and is not discharged well in vitro, and has been proven to cause diseases such as lung cancer, asbestos, malignant mesothelioma and pleural thickening. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has designated asbestos as a group 1 carcinogen. Currently, most of these slats are disposed in a designated landfill, but the landfill capacity is approaching its limit, and there is a potential risk of exposure to the external environment even if it is land-filled. Therefore, this study aimed to exam the possibility of detoxification of asbestos-containing slate by using exothermic reaction and heat treatment. Cement-asbestos slate from the asbestos removal site was used for this experiment. Exothermic catalysts such as calcium chloride(CaCl₂), magnesium chloride(MgCl₂), sodium hydroxide(NaOH), sodium silicate(Na₂SiO₃), kaolin[Al₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄)], and talc[Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂] were used. Six catalysts were applied to the cement-asbestos slate, respectively and then analyzed using TG-DTA. Based on the TG-DTA results, the heat treatment temperature for cement-asbestos slate transformation was determined at 750℃. XRD, SEM-EDS and TEM-EDS analyses were performed on the samples after the six catalysts applied to the slate and heat-treated at 750℃ for 2 hours. It was confirmed that chrysotile[Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH₅)] in the cement-asbestos slate was transformed into forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) by catalysts and heat treatment. In addition, the change in the shape of minerals was observed by applying a physical force to the slate and the heat treated slate after coating catalysts. As a result, the chrysotile in the cement-asbestos slate maintained fibrous form, but the cement-asbestos slate after heat treatment of applying catalyst was broken into non-fibrous form. Therefore, this study shows the possibility to safely verify the complete transformation of asbestos minerals in this catalyst- and temperature-induced process.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.213-228
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• 2014

Alkali-activated binder (AAB) is recently being considered as a sustainable alternative to portland cement (PC) due to its low carbon dioxide emission and diversion of industrial wastes and by-products such as fly ash and slag from landfills. In order to comprehend the behavior of AAB, detailed knowledge on relations between microstructure and mechanical properties are important. To address the issue, a new approach to characterize hardened pastes of AAB containing fly ash as well as those containing fly ash and slag was adopted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectra microanalyses. The volume stoichiometries of the alkali activation reactions were used to estimate the quantities of the sodium aluminosilicate (N-A-S-H) and calcium silicate hydrate (CSH) produced by these reactions. The 3D plots of Si/Al, Na/Al and Ca/Si atom ratios given by the microanalyses were compared with the estimated quantities of CSH(S) to successfully determine the unique chemical compositions of the N-A-S-H and CSH(S) for ten different AAB at three different curing temperatures using a constrained nonlinear least squares optimization formulation by general algebraic modeling system. The results show that the theoretical and experimental quantities of N-A-S-H and CSH(S) were in close agreement with each other. The $R^2$ values were 0.99 for both alkali-activated fly ash and alkali-activated slag binders.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.59.1-59.14
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• 2021

Objectives: This study compared the Biodentine, MTA Repair HP, and Bio-C Repair bioceramics in terms of bond strength to dentin, failure mode, and compression. Materials and Methods: Fifty-four slices obtained from the cervical third of 18 single-rooted human mandibular premolars were randomly distributed (n = 18). After insertion of the bioceramic materials, the push-out test was performed. The failure mode was analyzed using stereomicroscopy. Another set of cylindrically-shaped bioceramic samples (n = 10) was prepared for compressive strength testing. The normality of data distribution was analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. The Kruskal-Wallis and Friedman tests were used for the push-out test data, while compressive strength was analyzed with analysis of variance and the Tukey test, considering a significance level of 0.05. Results: Biodentine presented a higher median bond strength value (14.79 MPa) than MTA Repair HP (8.84 MPa) and Bio-C Repair (3.48 MPa), with a significant difference only between Biodentine and Bio-C Repair. In the Biodentine group, the most frequent failure mode was mixed (61%), while in the MTA Repair HP and Bio-C Repair groups, it was adhesive (94% and 72%, respectively). Biodentine showed greater resistance to compression (29.59 ± 8.47 MPa) than MTA Repair HP (18.68 ± 7.40 MPa) and Bio-C Repair (19.96 ± 3.96 MPa) (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Biodentine showed greater compressive strength than MTA Repair HP and Bio-C Repair, and greater bond strength than Bio-C Repair. The most frequent failure mode of Biodentine was mixed, while that of MTA Repair HP and Bio-C Repair was adhesive.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.53.1-53.11
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• 2021

Objectives: This study evaluates the bond strength and marginal adaptation of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) Repair HP and Biodentine used as apical plugs; MTA was used as reference material for comparison. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 single-rooted teeth with standardized, artificially created open apices were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 10 per group), according to the material used to form 6-mm-thick apical plugs: group 1 (MTA Repair HP); group 2 (Biodentine); and group 3 (white MTA). Subsequently, the specimens were transversely sectioned to obtain 2 (cervical and apical) 2.5-mm-thick slices per root. Epoxy resin replicas were observed under a scanning electron microscope to measure the gap size at the material/dentin interface (the largest and smaller gaps were recorded for each replica). The bond strength of the investigated materials to dentin was determined using the push-out test. The variable bond strengths and gap sizes were evaluated independently at the apical and cervical root dentin slices. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics. Results: The comparison between the groups regarding the variables' bond strengths and gap sizes showed no statistical difference (p > 0.05) except for a single difference in the smallest gap at the cervical root dentin slice, which was higher in group 3 than in group 1 (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The bond strength and marginal adaptation to root canal walls of MTA HP and Biodentine cement were comparable to white MTA.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.18 no.5 s.95
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• pp.589-594
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• 2006

The recycling of industrial wastes in the concrete manufacturing is of increasing interest worldwide, due to the high environmental impact of the cement and concrete industries and to the rising demand of infrastructures, both in industrialized and developing countries. The production of municipal wastes in the South Korea is estimated at about 49,902 ton per day and only 14.5% of these are incinerated and principally disposed of in landfill. These quantities will increase considerably with the growth of municipal waste production, the progressive closing of landfill, so the disposal of municipal solid waste incinerator(MSWI) ashes has become a continuous and significant issue facing society, both environmentally and economically. MSWI ash is the residue from waste combustion processes at temperature between $850^{\circ}C\;and\;1,000^{\circ}C$. And the main components of MSWI ash are $SiO_2,\;CaO\;and\;Al_2O_3$. The aim of this study is to find a way to useful application of MSWI ash(after treatment) as a structural material and to investigates the hydraulic activity, compressive strength development composition variation of such alkali-activated MSWI ashes concrete. And it was found that early cement hydration, followed by the breakdown and dissolving of the MSWI-ashes, enhanced the formation of calcium silicate hydrates(C-S-H). The XRD and SEM-EDS results indicate that, both the hydration degree and strength development are closely connected with a curing condition and a alkali-activator. Compressive strengths with values in the 40.5 MPa were obtained after curing the activated MSWI ashes with NaOH+water glass at $90^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.104-111
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• 2015

This study shows the mechanical properties of alkali-activated slag cement (AASC) synthesized using sulfate with NaOH solution. The used sulfates were calcium sulfate ($CaSO_4$, denoted CS) and sodium sulfate ($Na_2SO_4$, denoted SS). The replacement ratio of sulfates was 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0% by weight of slag. NaOH solution of 2M and 4M concentration was used. A sample was activated with sulfate and activated with blended activator (blending NaOH solution with sulfate) respectively. 24 mix ratios were used and the water-binder weight ratio for the test was set 0.5. This research carried out the compressive strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), absorption and X-ray diffraction (XRD). In the case of samples with CS, sample with 7.5% CS, sample with 2M NaOH+5.0% CS and sample with 4M NaOH+5.0% CS showed the good performance in the strength development. In the case of samples with SS, sample with 10.0% SS, sample with 2M NaOH+7.5% SS and sample with 4M NaOH+2.5% SS obtained good performance in strength. The results of UPV and water absorption showed a similar tendency to the strength properties. The XRD analysis of samples indicated that the hydration products formed in samples were ettringite, CSH and silicate phases. In this study, it is indicated that when compared to the use of sulfate only, the use of both sulfate and NaOH solution makes mechanical properties of AASC better.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.114-119
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• 2013

The present study tested 5 concrete mixes to develop reliable mixing proportions for the sustainable alkali-activated(AA) foamed concrete as a thermal insulation material for the floor heating system of buildings. The AA binder used was composed of 73.5% ground granulated blast-furnace slag, 15% fly ash, 5% calcium hydroxide, and 6.5% sodium silicate. As a main variable, the unit binder content varied from $325kg/m^3$ to $425kg/m^3$ at a space of $25kg/m^3$. The test results revealed that AA foamed concrete has considerable potential for practical applications when the unit binder content is close to $375kg/m^3$, which achieves the minimum quality requirements specified in KS F 4039 and ensures economic efficiency. In addition, lifecycle assessment demonstrated the reduction in the environmental impact profiles of all specimens relative to typical ordinary portland cement foamed concrete as follows: 99% for photochemical oxidation potential, 87~89% for global warming potential, 78~82% for abiotic depletion, and 70~75% for both acidification potential and human toxicity.