Kumaran Coopamootoo

• Email: k.coopamootoo2@ncl.ac.uk

Supervisors

• Newcastle University
• Dr Enrico Masoero
• Dr Colin Davie
• Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
• Dr Cise Unluer

Project description

Manufacture of Portland cement contributes 9.5% to the global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions.

Geopolymers form one promising class of alternative cements. They can yield similar mechanical properties as ordinary Portland cement. This accounts for their increasing popularity in materials research.

The existing experimental studies on geopolymer behaviour are insightful but certainly not exhaustive. Conducting experimental campaigns would be very costly and time consuming. We would need to characterise geopolymers with all the possible combinations of mix design variables – for example:

• raw material chemistries
• type and quantity of alkali activators
• curing temperature
• water added to the mix

We will develop a nanoscale simulation model of geopolymer microstructure formation. The model will show the effect of chemistry on dissolution, precipitation and growth processes.

We will use the simulations to link design variables to microstructural features formed in the model. We will investigate the most desirable for particular properties, such as strength and high temperature resistance.

This is a funded SAGE-Singapore studentship project.

Publications

• Coopamootoo K, Masoero E. Bridging the gap between nanoparticle simulations and chemical kinetics of cement hydration. In: 15th International Congress on the Chemistry of Cement (ICCC 2019). 2019, Prague, Czech Republic: ICCC.
• Coopamootoo K, Davie C, Unluer C, Masoero E. Geopolymer cements: Nanoscale simulations and high temperature experiments. In: 38th Cement and Concrete Science Conference. 2018, United Kingdom.

Interests

• alternative cementitious materials (assessment of microstructural and macro-scale properties)
• durability testing and exposure to sulfates and chlorides
• cement-plastic composites
• KMC simulation modelling of construction materials

Qualifications

• MSc Structural Engineering (Newcastle University) – GEST Prize
• BEng Civil Engineering (University of Mauritius)