Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering

It is demonstrated that the addition of organo-modified Na-bentonite (OMB) particles to Portland cement mortar can promote its physical and mechanical properties. A series of experimental works on some important physico-mechanical properties of Portland cement mortars mixed with various dosages of hydrophobic OMB were performed. The obtained results confirm that the OMB provides a dense packing effect. An optimum replacement level of around 3.5% (by weight) at an increased water-to-cement ratio of 0.53 results in an almost 11.43% increase in 28-day compressive strength along with about 20.78 and 16.20% reductions in total volume of permeable pore space and water absorption, respectively. Also, at the optimum replacement level, an increase of about 2.72% is taken place in dry bulk specific gravity.