Thermophysical properties of hydrophobised lime plaster – Experimental analysis of

moisture effect
Milena Pavlíková, Radka Pernicová, and Zbyšek Pavlík

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1752, 040022 (2016);

View online: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4955253
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/1752/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics

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 Thermophysical Properties of Hydrophobised Lime Plaster
– Experimental Analysis of Moisture Effect
Milena Pavlíková1, a), Radka Pernicová2, b), and Zbyšek Pavlík1, c)
1
Department of Materials Engineering and Chemistry, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in
Prague, Thákurova 7, 166 29 Prague, Czech Republic
2
Department of Building Materials, Klokner Institute, Czech Technical University in Prague, Šolínova 7, 166 08
Prague, Czech Republic
a)
Corresponding author: milena.pavlikova@fsv.cvut.cz
b)
radka.pernicova@klok.cvut.cz
c)
pavlikz@fsv.cvut.cz

Abstract. Lime plasters are the most popular finishing materials in renewal of historical buildings and culture
monuments. Because of their limited durability, new materials and design solutions are investigated in order to improve
plasters performance in harmful environmental conditions. For the practical use, the plasters mechanical resistivity and
the compatibility with substrate are the most decisive material parameters. However, also plasters hygric and thermal
parameters affecting the overall hygrothermal function of the renovated structures are of the particular importance. On
this account, the effect of moisture content on the thermophysical properties of a newly designed lime plasters containing
hydrophobic admixture is analysed in the paper. For the comparative purposes, the reference lime and cement-lime
plasters are tested as well. Basic characterization of the tested materials is done using bulk density, matrix density, and
porosity measurements. Thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity in the broad range of moisture content are
experimentally accessed using a transient impulse method. The obtained data reveals the significant increase of the both
studied thermal parameters with increasing moisture content and gives information on plasters behaviour in a highly
humid environment and/or in the case of their possible direct contact with liquid water. The accessed material parameters
will be stored in a material database, where can find use as an input data for computational modelling of coupled heat and
moisture transport in this type of porous building materials.

INTRODUCTION
Lime mortars and plasters have been used as building material since ancient times. In the 19 th century appeared
Portland cement, which offered certain advantages such as fast setting and high mechanical resistance. Lime mortars
are now beginning to be used again, due to a necessity to replace parts of the original plasters and mortars in many
historical buildings which have been deteriorated by a natural weathering [1]. From the point of view of a historian,
it is not acceptable to use cement-lime plasters in Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings because
they are not compatible with traditional building materials, with which Portland cement shows low chemical and
physical affinity [2-3]. Moreover, the materials used for a renovation should have similar properties and behaviour
as historical plasters and mortars [4]. Plaster can play its function, it means architectural and protective against
negative environmental conditions, only if it creates a compact cover with surface treatment. So, the demand for the
substitution materials in the restoration and renewal of historical buildings appeared due to the necessity to imitate
the appearance and the quality of the original materials. The current solution of the problem of surface layers
damage of historical building is based more or less on the improvement of technology and properties of each input
raw material with preservation of visual and physico-chemical compatibility to original plaster.
The chemical analyses of historical plasters show, these external plasters contain products formed by lime
reaction with pozzolanic or hydraulic admixtures [5]. Pozzolanic admixtures appeared to have positive effect on

Thermophysics 2016
AIP Conf. Proc. 1752, 040022-1–040022-6; doi: 10.1063/1.4955253
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1410-5/$30.00

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properties of lime binder in the past [6-7]. The reaction of these materials with lime resulted in the formation of
hydrated calcium silicates and calcium aluminates. According to the composition of the applied pozzolana,
compounds similar to Portland cement products were formed but even compounds of zeolite character were found,
such as phillipsite 3CaO·3Al2O3·10SiO2·12H2O and analcime Na2O·Al2O3·4SiO2·2H2O, in connection with
microcrystalline calcite. These compounds are the cause of the plasters resistance against environmental conditions
and in this way of the durability of these plasters [6]. The main hardening mechanism is a combined reaction
composed of cement hydration and pozzolanic reaction, which is rather complicated as each reaction follow
different reaction processes at different rates [8]. The degree and the order of these two reactions depend on the
binder composition, pozzolanic reactivity of the material and curing conditions. Besides, the degree of pozzolanic
reactions is affected by the carbonation reaction because part of the lime is consumed by this reaction. This
influences the mechanical properties and the porosity of the plasters [9].
The lime plasters exhibited high values of liquid water transport parameters that are not very suitable from the
point of view of their exposure to the external environment. Therefore, an application of hydrophobic admixtures
seems to be a good solution for achievement of the prolonged service life of lime-based plasters [10].
In this paper, we used zinc stearate as the hydrophobic admixture for lime-pozzolana plaster and investigated its
effect on basic physical and thermophysical properties. For the comparative purposes, also pure lime and industrially
produced cement-lime plasters were measured.

EXPERIMENTAL
The composition of the tested plasters (see Table 1) was designed in order to imitate lime plasters, which were
used hundred years ago, and to substitute the hydraulic binder, namely Portland cement, in industrially produced
renovation plasters. In order to improve plasters durability, but keep the chemical composition and basic material
properties similar to the original historical plasters, the lime hydrate was partially substituted by metakaolin in the
plaster mixture denoted LPM. Plaster LPMH was modified in addition to metakaolin with 2.5 mass% of
hydrophobic admixture on the zinc stearate basis. Moreover, in plaster mixture denoted LPMHA, air-entraining
agent (AEA) was used. The applied AEA was on the basis of sodium lauriminodipropionate, fatty alcohols C12 –
C15, sulphonic acid, C14 – 16 – hydroalkane, C14 – C16 – alkene, and formaldehyde. This admixture was added in
the amount of 4 mass% of blended binder. In order to reveal the effect of applied modifying admixtures, the
reference pure lime plaster labelled LP was studied as well. The used lime hydrate CL 90 was produced by limekiln
Morká, Czech Republic. It has particle size up to 90 μm. The silica aggregate of fraction 0/2 mm produced by
Heidelberg Cement Group, Brněnské písky Inc., affiliate Bratčice, Czech Republic. It was mixed from three sand
fractions in weight ratio 1:1:1. Metakaolin MEFISTO K05 was delivered by company České lupkové závody Inc.,
Nové Strašecí, Czech Republic. It is a highly active pozzolana material on metakaolinite basis with average particle
size in the interval from 3 to 5 μm. It consists mainly of SiO2 (55 %) and Al2O3 (41 %). Fe2O3, TiO2, CaO, MgO and
Na2O present the minor compounds. For the comparative purposes, it was prepared also industrially produced
hydrophobised cement-lime renovation plaster denoted as LCH. The batch water dosage was slightly modified in
order to keep the workability of fresh mixtures on the similar level. The casted samples were left for 1 day at
laboratory conditions and then they were unmoulded and treated for 28 days by water spraying.

TABLE 1. Composition of tested plasters

Plaster Mass (kg)
Natural
Binder Water Metakaolin
Aggregate
LP 4.8 14.4 4.8 -
LPM 4.0 14.4 4.2 0.8
LPMH 4.0 14.4 4.2 0.8
LPMHA 4.0 14.4 4.2 0.8
LCH 35.0 6.3 -

Particle Size Analysis

For the basic characterization of raw materials, which were used for mixtures preparation, particle size
distribution was accessed on a laser diffraction principle with the device Analysette 22 Micro Tec plus (Fritsch). The

040022-2
grain size of sand aggregate was analysed using standard sieve method with sieves of mesh dimensions 0.063;
0.125; 0.25; 0.5; 1.0 and 2.0 mm respectively.

Basic Physical Properties

For the tested plasters the measurements of bulk density Ub (kg/m3), matrix density Umat (kg/m3) and total open
porosity \were done. Samples were first dried in a drier at 105 °C. The matrix density was measured using
automatic helium pycnometer Pycnomatic ATC (Thermo Scientific), and the bulk density was obtained from the
sample volume and its dry mass. The total open porosity was calculated on the basis of bulk density and matrix
density measurement. There was also examined value of saturated moisture content wsat (kg/m3). The necessary data
were obtained from the measurement of water vacuum saturation [11]. The samples for the basic material
parameters testing had dimensions 40 × 40 × 20 mm. The relative expanded uncertainty of applied measuring
method was approx. 5 %.

Thermal Properties

In order to access the effect of moisture presence on plasters thermal behaviour, their thermal conductivity O
(W/mK) and volumetric heat capacity cv (J/m3K) were measured. The measurement was conducted on a transient
impulse method principle using device ISOMET 2104 (Applied Precision Ltd.) equipped with surface circular
probe. The measurement is based on an analysis of the temperature response of the analysed material to the induced
heat flow impulses [12-13]. Firstly, the dried plaster samples in the form of cubes with side dimension of 70 mm
were used for the measurement. Then, the samples were saturated in water to reach gradually higher values of mass
moisture content u (kg/kg). The thermal conductivity measurement accuracy was for O values in the range 0.02 – 2.0
W/mK 10 % of reading. For the volumetric heat capacity cv in the range 4.0 × 104 – 4.0 × 106 J/m3K, the measuring
accuracy was 15 % of reading. The dry volumetric heat capacity was recalculated to get the specific heat capacity c
(J/kgK). Since the specific heat capacity is additive quantity, its dependence on moisture content was accessed using
simple mixing formula.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 2 presents the results of particle size distribution measurement of raw materials, namely of lime hydrate
CL 90 and metakaolin MEFISTO K05, which were used for plasters preparation. As we can see, the both materials
exhibit nearly the same grain size distribution.

TABLE 2. Grain size distribution of raw materials

Grain Size (μm) Grain Size (μm) Grain Size (μm)
Material Freq d10 Freq d50 Freq d90
CL90 0.8 3.1 7.9
MK05 1.0 3.8 9.3

Basic physical properties of tested materials are given in Table 3. Apparently, the addition of hydrophobic
admixture led to the increase of bulk density i.e., to the decrease of open porosity in the comparison with reference
lime plaster LP and lime-metakaolin plaster LPM. For that reason, it was necessary to use an air-entraining agent in
order to get material with high porosity suitable for renovation of historical masonry that usually suffers from
excessive moisture. For such structures, the ability of water evaporation and possible salt extraction are of the
particular importance. In this case, the increase in porosity was about 25 % compared to the porosity of LPMH and
about 12.5% in comparison with the reference plaster LP. The addition of hydrophobic admixture influenced also
values of the saturated moisture content of tested plasters. For the all studied materials, the saturated moisture
content corresponded to the porosity values. In general, the hydrophobic effect of zinc stearate was found to be quite
apparent for the both hydrophobized plasters. The lowest wsat yielded plaster LPMH. For this material, the
hydrophization reduced the wsat value of about 7 % compared to the reference lime plaster LP. The industrially
produced plaster LCH provided the highest porosity and saturated moisture content value.

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 TABLE 3. Basic physical properties of tested plasters
Ub Umat wsat \
Plaster (kg/m3) (kg/m3) (kg/m3) 
LP 1 650 2 605 359.00 36.70
LPM 1 695 2 620 342.60 35.40
LPMH 1 745 2 615 332.40 33.20
LPMHA 1 510 2 570 343.90 41.30
LCH 1 175 2 555 502.90 54.60

Thermophysical parameters of tested plasters in a dry state are presented in Table 4. Also the volumetric heat
capacity is presented in order to give information on the effect of material density on the heat storage capacity. The
lime-pozzolana plasters exhibited slightly higher thermal conductivity than the reference lime plaster. This is in
accordance with their higher bulk density and lower porosity (Table 2). Nevertheless, also plaster LPMHA with
increased porosity by AEA exhibited higher thermal conductivity value compared to the reference plaster. This
finding we assign to the mutual competition of two factors affecting the plaster thermal performance. First, the
higher porosity obtained by AEA increases the dry thermal conductivity value [14]. On the other hand, application
of hydrophobic agent led to the formation of different hydrated products with diverse pores connectivity and
tortuosity that increased the plaster thermal conductivity.
From the quantitative point of view, similar data on thermal conductivity were reported by Pavlík et al. [15] that
studied effect of moisture on thermal conductivity of lime-based composites. They measured for plasters based on
different types of lime hydrate, metakaolin, basalt and silica sand porosity ranging from 33.2 to 35.7 %, whereas the
thermal conductivity values varied from 0.664 to 0.780 W/mK. Also Černý et al. [16] measured for 1/3 hydrated
lime/aggregate mixes the thermal conductivity of 0.73 W/mK. The low thermal conductivity of commercially
produced plaster LCH corresponds with its high porosity. Such thermal conductivity values were measured for
example by Mazhoud at al. [17] that analysed hygric and thermal properties of hemp-lime plasters. He measured for
hemp-lime plaster having porosity of about 65% temperature dependent thermal conductivity ranging from 0.204 to
0.238 W/mK.
The values of the specific heat capacity were very similar for all the studied mixtures. On the other hand, the
differences in the volumetric heat capacity clearly characterize the effect of material density on heat storage
capacity. The highest volumetric heat capacity exhibited LPMH that had also the highest bulk density. The lowest
volumetric heat capacity exhibited commercial plaster LCH that possessed the lowest density. Specific heat capacity
of the pure lime plaster was measured in [18]. Here authors obtained for lime plaster having porosity of 28.6 %
specific heat capacity of approx. 800 J/kgK. In our case, the plasters studied in this paper yielded higher values of
specific heat capacity similarly as in [16].

TABLE 4. Thermophysical properties of tested plasters in a dry state

λ c cv
Plaster (W/mK) (J/kgK) (J/m3K) ×105
LP 0.674 910 1.50
LPM 0.880 940 1.59
LPMH 0.850 915 1.60
LPMHA 0.880 890 1.34
LCH 0.249 1 060 1.25

Thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity were determined in the broad range of moisture content. The
variation of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity with water content give Figs. 1 and 2. All the studied
materials show a significant increase in both studied thermal parameters with water content as introduced for
example by Taoukil et al. [19]. Clearly, the shapes of all λ(u) and c(u) functions were very similar and close to the
linear dependence. The values of thermal conductivity of specimens with high moisture content were typically two
to four times higher than those of the dry specimens. For the specific heat capacity of moist samples, the differences
were lower, i.e. up to approx. 80 %.

040022-4
 FIGURE 1. Moisture dependent thermal conductivity of the tested plasters

FIGURE 2. Moisture dependent specific heat capacity of the tested plasters

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this paper, properties of innovative lime plasters containing metakaolin as a pozzolana active material and
hydrophobic admixtures were determined and compared with the reference lime and industrially produced cement-
lime plaster. The basic physical parameters, especially the total open porosity, were significantly influenced by

040022-5
addition of metakaolin. Therefore, an air-entraining agent was applied in order to develop material with high
porosity. To eliminate the deterioration of original lime plaster by natural weathering, the hydrophobic admixture on
the zinc stearate basis was added into the plaster mix. The improvement of mixes composition led to the slight
increase of thermal conductivity of lime-metakaolin plasters, whereas the specific heat capacity was not significantly
affected. The experimentally accessed moisture dependent thermal properties represent useful information for
practical use of the developed materials in building practice as well for optimized design of renovation and
reconstruction treatments where the tested plasters should find use. Moreover, the obtained data can find use in
computational modelling of coupled moisture and heat transport in building structures and components.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research has been financially supported by the Czech Science Foundation, under project No 15-10591S.

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