Preparation and Micromechanics of Red Sandstone-Phosphogypsum-Cement Composite Cementitious Materials

Based on the physical and chemical properties of red sandstone (RS), RS is used to produce composite cementitious materials. The flowability, mechanical strength, and micromechanics of a red sandstone-cement binary cementitious material (RS-OPC) were investigated as functions of the amount of RS replacing the cement (OPC). Additionally, the feasibility of producing red sandstone-phosphogypsum-cement composite materials (RS-PG-OPC) using the phosphogypsum (PG)- enhanced volcanic ash activity of RS was investigated. The products of hydration and microstructures of RS-OPC and RS-PG-OPC were analyzed by XRD, FTIR, TG-DTG, and SEM. RS enhanced the flowability of RS-OPC relative to the unmodified cement slurry but lowered its mechanical strength, according to the experiments. When the quantity of OPC replaced was greater than 25%, the compressive strength after 28 days was substantially reduced, with a maximum reduction of 78.8% (RS-60). The microscopic mechanism of RS-OPC suggested that the active SiO₂ in the RS can react with Ca(OH)₂ to produce C-S-H but can only utilize small quantities of Ca(OH)₂, confirming the low volcanic ash activity of RS. RS was responsible for dilution and filling. The incorporation of 5% PG into RS-PG-OPC slowed the hydration process compared with RS-OPC without PG but also increased the flowability and aided in the later development of the mechanical strength. This was primarily because the addition of PG provided the system with sufficient Ca²⁺ and SO₄^2- to react with [Al(OH)6]^3- to form ettringite (AFt), therefore accelerating the dissolution of Al³⁺ in RS to generate more AFt and C-(A)-S-H gels. To some extent, this excites the volcanic ash of RS. Therefore, if there is an abundance of waste RS in the region and a lack of other auxiliary cementitious materials, a sufficient quantity of PG and a finely powdered waste RS component can be used to replace cementitious materials prepared with OPC to reduce the mining of raw OPC materials.