Assessing the pozzolanic activity of cements with added sugar cane straw ash by synchrotron X ray diffraction and Rietveld analysis

Sugar and alcohol industries generate large amount of wastes that could produce ashes of great reactivity with pozzolan properties. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the pozzolanicity of Sugar Cane Straw Ashes SCSA , thermal treated, at different curing times. Employing Synchrotron X ray radiation for XRD measurements, scans from 10 degrees to 110 degrees theta 2 theta setup allowed the quantification of several phases of the cement pasts through Rietveld analysis. The SCSA substitution of 20 weight in Ordinary Portland Cement OPC has improved the AFt Ettringite formation up to 47 for 90 days curing time. The Portlandite concentration analysis allowed concluding that this addition of SCSA in OPC has caused a delay in the cement setting time. Moreover, the behaviour of the C3S and Calcite contents in both OPC and OPC SCSA samples were determined by refinement of the XRD pattern using the Rietveld metho