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Carbonation of high-calcium lime mortars containing cactus mucilage as additive: a spectroscopic approach

  • Composites & nanocomposites
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Abstract

Lime mortar is one of the oldest building materials. In Mexico, ingredients added to it to enhance its properties may include cactus mucilage, among others. We have evaluated the effect of adding, at two different concentrations, mucilage from Opuntia ficus-indica (prickly pear), Acanthocereous tetragonus (fairy castle cactus), and Hylocereus undatus (pitahaya or dragon fruit) in the accelerated carbonation of hydrated lime. The carbonation kinetics were followed by spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier transform mid-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that mucilage promoted carbonation, functioning as a positive catalyst. Analysis of the infrared (IR) absorption corresponding to the in-plane asymmetric stretching \({v}_{3}\) of the \({\text{C}}{\text{O}}_{3}^{2-}\) anion indicated that the carbonation rate increased with the percentage of mucilage, being directly dependent on the concentration of Opuntia and Acanthocereous mucilage at both concentration levels tested. SEM observations confirmed that the inclusion of mucilage promoted the creation of the aragonite polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank to Bio. Hermes Lustre-Sánchez and Dra. Yolanda Donají Ortiz-Hernández for providing the cactus stems used in the mucilage extraction. Special acknowledgement is given to Professor Robert Leavitt for editing the response to reviewer’s comments.

Funding

The financial funding was provided by the SIP of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Mexico through the projects ID numbers 20160926 and 20170670.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIIDIR Unidad Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Hornos No. 1003, Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, 71230, Oaxaca, México

    F. M. León-Martínez, P. F. de J. Cano-Barrita, F. Castellanos, K. B. Luna-Vicente & S. Ramírez-Arellanes

  2. ESIQIE, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. Luis Enrique Erro S/N, Zacatenco, 07738, Ciudad de México, México

    C. Gómez-Yáñez

Authors
  1. F. M. León-Martínez
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  2. P. F. de J. Cano-Barrita
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  3. F. Castellanos
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  4. K. B. Luna-Vicente
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  5. S. Ramírez-Arellanes
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Correspondence to F. M. León-Martínez.

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León-Martínez, F.M., Cano-Barrita, P.F.d.J., Castellanos, F. et al. Carbonation of high-calcium lime mortars containing cactus mucilage as additive: a spectroscopic approach. J Mater Sci 56, 3778–3789 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05514-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05514-5

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