Portland cement is the essential binding agent in concrete. This cement is becoming a principal factor in air pollution because of the creation of CO2 during its manufacture. The exhaustion of the natural resources needed for Portland cement production is also an issue. Therefore, a substitute material for this type of cement is needed. Nano-scale materials are of great interest due to their unique optical, electrical, and magnetic properties. These properties are strongly dependent on the sizes and shapes of the particles, and, therefore, it is important to be able to develop a construction route which retains the excellent properties of the nano-sized material. The purpose of this study was to synthesize nano-powder as a substitute for cement using a chemical method. Particle size, SEM, EDX, and porosity tests were conducted. This study investigated the compressive strengths of concretes with various compositions. Specimens were tested for compressive strength three, seven, 14, and 28 days after manufacture. In the results of this study, the medium-sized (50% by weight) nano-cement particles created via chemical synthesis were less than 168 nm in size, and the compressive strength of the mortar prepared using these nanoparticles was 53.9MPa.

Keywords: CO2 reduction, Chemical synthesis, Alkali activation, Compressive strength, Highly functional construction material