LAUSR

Abstract The present study investigates the optical and dielectric properties of nano-sized C3AH6 cement hydrates. A cement product was fabricated via a simple hydration process using a derivative of a C12A7 cement precursor reacting with de-ionized water while raising the reaction temperature to 100 °C. A crystalline phase of the C3AH6 cement product was characterized and confirmed using an XRD technique. Its morphology was also evaluated using TEM and SEM techniques. It was found that nano-sized C3AH6 (in size 10–50 nm) was successfully derived via this process. This cement product was thermodynamically stable over the range of room temperature to 300 °C. The optical direct gap was 4.1 eV and the indirect energy gap was 2.45 eV. Over the range of 20 Hz to 2 MHz, the observed capacitance was 10−10 F–10−11 F and the dielectric constant varied from 20 to 150. The dielectric properties were enhanced over those of general cement compounds. This effect was due to its complex structure in which –O–H bonding appeared in the structure and the formation of nano-sized structures from this process. These results suggested that the nano-C3AH6 hydrated particles were transparent to visible light and exhibited a high frequency electrical response. This implies an important role for these cement-based materials as potential candidates having optical and dielectric properties appropriate for applications such as smart building materials in the form of transparent electrode windows, smart wall capacitors, triboelectric devices and supercapacitors.