Natural hydraulic lime (NHL) has garnered increasing attention for its sustainable and suitable performance in the field of historical building restoration. However, the prolonged hardening time and sluggish hydration rate of NHL influence the workability, strength development, and durability of construction structures in which it is used. In this study, nano-metakaolin (NMK) was applied as a highly reactive supplementary cementitious material (SCM) for NHL-based mortars to enhance their properties with various ratios. Meanwhile, the effects of NMK and its related enhancement mechanism on the physical properties and chemical structures of NHL composites were systematically investigated, mainly involving the modifications in their microstructure, chemical composition, and C-S-H structure. Results demonstrated that NMK-modified samples showed distinct and superior properties to pure NHL sample, such as shorter initial/final setting times (15.1%–49.1%, 27.1%–50.0%), and higher compactness (67.8%–81.4%, 38.1%–44.8%), lower shrinkage (25.0%–56.3%, 12.5%–25.0%), enhanced compressive strength (404.5%–546.0%, 180.8%–354.1%) and flexural strength (227.5%–351.1%, 59.9%–125.7%) for both early and late curing times (7 and 28 days). The inclusion of NMK not only acts as a fine filler, but also promotes NHL's hydrate rate by its super high pozzolanic activity, thus optimizing the pore structures and increasing the content and the average silicate chain length of hydration gel in NHL. Overall, this study can contribute to a deeper understanding of the enhancement mechanism of NMK on the physical properties and chemical structures of NHL from a meso/microscopic perspective, with a view to broadening NHL's potential applications.
| 科 Family | 属数 Number of genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) | 属 Genus | 种数 Number of species | 占总种数比例 Percentage of total species (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 鹅膏菌科Amanitaceae | 2 | 11 | 5.26 | 鹅膏菌属 Amanita | 10 | 4.78 |
| 小菇科 Mycenaceae | 2 | 12 | 5.74 | 丝盖伞属 Inocybe | 5 | 2.39 |
| 多孔菌科 Polyporaceae | 8 | 14 | 6.70 | 蜡蘑属 Laccaria | 5 | 2.39 |
| 红菇科 Russulaceae | 3 | 23 | 11.00 | 小皮伞属 Marasmius | 6 | 2.87 |
| 小菇属 Mycena | 11 | 5.26 | ||||
| 光柄菇属 Pluteus | 5 | 2.39 | ||||
| 红菇属 Russula | 17 | 8.13 | ||||
| 栓菌属 Trametes | 5 | 2.39 |