L. VEENA VIJAYAN, J PRAKASH ARUL JOSE: STABILITY STUDIES OF COHESIVE SOIL ...
187–191
STABILITY STUDIES OF COHESIVE SOIL WITH NANO
MAGNESIUM AND ZINC OXIDE
[TUDIJ STABILNOSTI KOHEZIVNE ZEMLJINE Z DODATKOM
NANO-MAGNEZJA IN CINKOVEGA OKSIDA
L. Veena Vijayan
*
, J Prakash Arul Jose
Department of Civil Engineering, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Thuckalay, Kanyakumari, India
Prejem rokopisa – received: 2021-12-06; sprejem za objavo – accepted for publication: 2022-02-14
doi:10.17222/mit.2021.329
Cohesive soils are found all over the world and can cause significant harm to infrastructure and structures. Many innovative
ways to improve the strength of cohesive soils are being explored to decrease the negative qualities and make them appropriate
for construction applications. The availability of novel materials, in addition to traditional procedures, has boosted the area of
soil reinforcement. In the realm of soil stabilisation, the inclusion of nanomaterials is one of the newest creative ideas. In
geotechnical engineering, nanotechnology could be viewed as dual methods: the composition of the soil can be found at the
nanoscale, and soil modification can be accomplished at the atomic and molecular levels. The goal of this research is to see if it
is possible to stabilise cohesive soil using two distinct nanomaterials and to look at the changes in geotechnical parameters.
Nanocrystalline magnesium oxide and nano zinc oxide is included in the soil with (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) w/% and trials were
executed to evaluate the optimal percent and strength properties of the mixtures.
Keywords: ground development, nano crystallie, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, kaolinite clay
Kohezivne (plazovite) zemljine najdemo povsod po svetu in le-te lahko povzro~ijo pomembne po{kodbe na zgradbah in
infrastrukturi. Razli~ni raziskovalci in projektanti so na podro~ju gradbeni{tva na{li `e {tevilne inovativne re{itve, kako
izbolj{ati njihovo trdnost in s tem zmanj{ati negativne vplive na na~rtovane konstrukcije. Danes je na razpolago `e vrsta novih
ali izbolj{anih materialov, kot dodatek k tradicionalnim postopkom, ki lahko oja~ijo (utrdijo) zemljino. Na podro~ju novej{ih
na~inov oziroma kreativnih idej stabilizacije zemljin je vgrajevanje nanomaterialov v zemljino. To je tudi eden od
naju~inkovitej{ih pristopov. V geotehni~nem in`eniringu in nanotehnologijah si lahko na zemljino kot tako ustvarimo dva
pogleda: njeno sestavo lahko definiramo na nano nivoju in jo modificiramo z zdru`itvijo atomskega in molekularnega nivoja.
Cilj pri~ujo~e raziskave, opisane v tem ~lanku, je bil ugotoviti mo`nosti stabilizacije izbrane kohezivne zemljine z uporabo dveh
razli~nih materialov in ovrednotiti spremembe geotehni~nih parametrov. Avtorji so dodajali razli~ne koli~ine (0,25, 0,5, 0,75 in
1) w/% nano-kristalini~ne magnezije oziroma magnezijevega oksida in nano-cinkovega oksida v izbrano zemljino. Nato so
izvajali preizkuse s katerimi so dolo~ili trdnost vzorcev in optimalni dele` dodatka MgO oziroma ZnO v me{anicah.
Klju~ne besede: priprava podlage, nano kristali, magnezijev oksid, cinkov oksid, kaolinitna glina
1 INTRODUCTION
Structures built on cohesive soil were invariably
plagued by subsidence and stability issues. Many
civil-engineering projects that involve soft soils have re-
sulted in the adoption of a variety of soil-improvement
techniques, including stabilization. Engineers identify
the modification or stabilization of soil-engineering fea-
tures as a significant procedure for boosting the effec-
tiveness of problematic soils and enhancing the effective-
ness of marginal soils as a building material. This area
has discovered a variety of different alteration ap-
proaches. Traditional soil additions include straw, bitu-
men, and salts, but cement, petrochemicals, and other
materials are rapidly being utilized to stabilize the soil
mechanically and chemically. New technologies have in-
deed been extensively applied in the field of stabiliza-
tion, in addition to established methods. The use of
biopolymers with nanomaterials (NMs), for example, is a
recently designed method for soil enhancement (of the
order of 10
9
). Nanotechnology (NT) is a fast-developing
field with enormous promise for developing new materi-
als with distinctive features as well as new and enhanced
products for a variety of uses. In geotechnical engineer-
ing, NT can be viewed in two methods: the composition
of the soil was shown at the nanoscale, and soil modifi-
cation can be prepared at the atomic as well as the mo-
lecular level.
Many studies have demonstrated that even a modest
amount of NM can significantly alter the soil’s physical
and chemical qualities.
1
This is owing to the NMs large
specific surface area, which allows them to interact more
effectively with other particles in the soil structure. NT is
an important technique in geotechnical engineering
which was to increase soil engineering qualities.
2
Since
the 1940s, agricultural engineers have been considering
the use of biological polymers in soil as a stabilization
and hardening substance for collections. Since it was cre-
ated from farmed non-food crops, biopolymer has a
long-term carbon neutrality and also regarded as a re-
newable substance. As a result, using biopolymers in
geotechnical engineering would result in a long-term
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 56 (2022) 2, 187–191 187
UDK 624.13:620.3 ISSN 1580-2949
Original scientific article/Izvirni znanstveni ~lanek MTAEC9, 56(2)187(2022)
*Corresponding author's e-mail:
vee3606@gmail.com

business. Experiments with extensively treated soil with
varying percent of guar gum gel for varied water levels
resulted in expanded soil with better strength. The inclu-
sion of biopolymers increases the intercept and CBR
(California bearing ratio) scores of extensive soils.
3
In a talk given in 1959, Feynman established the no-
tion of NT for the first time. Even if present in modest
amounts, such as a few percent, nano particles can have a
significant impact on soil qualities investigated.
4
The im-
pact of adding different NMs to soft soil, such as nano
CuO, nano MgO, and nano clay, on the geotechnical pa-
rameters. The liquid and plastic edge, plasticity index of
the soil was all reduced when each NM was introduced.
With a rise in NM %, the dry density and optimal humid-
ity content rose. With the use of nanomaterials, the com-
pressive strength improved.
5
Experiments were under-
taken to investigate the characteristics of nano kaolin
combined with kaolin. Even when only a little amount of
nano kaolin was applied, the qualities of the kaolin were
improved.
6
The influence of sodium altered montmorillonite
nano clay on the engineering qualities of clay was inves-
tigated. According to the findings of Atterberg’s limits
test, introducing nano clay to the soil can enhance the
plastic and liquid limit.
7
On the findings of the study of
nano-SiO
2
to clay soil based of a sequences of compac-
tion, direct shear, and released compressive strength ex-
periments, the impacts of nano-SiO
2
on clayey soil were
investigated.
8,12
The impacts of NMs on the geotechnical
parameters of clayey soils in an experimental study. The
impact of NMs (nano-silica and -zeolite) on differential
free swell, Atterberg’s confines, compacted properties,
and unconfined compressive strength were studied. The
analysis indicates that as the percentages of NMs grew,
the expanding nature of the soil reduced and Atterberg’s
constraints and shear strength properties of soils im-
proved.
8
A combustion approach was used to make
nanocrystalline (NC) MgO particles utilizing magnesium
nitrate as an oxidant and hexamine as a fuel. To increase
crystallinity and phase purity, the materials generated by
combustion technique were annealed at 800 °C for 3 h.
The current findings show that materials with higher
crystallinity can be produced utilizing the hexamine
combustion process.
9
This paper deals with the effect of nano magnesium
oxide (MgO) and nano aluminium oxide (Al
2
O
3
) with
different contents (0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2) w/% on the proper-
ties of expansive soils.
10
The results indicate that the
swelling potential is reduced with the addition of nano
materials, thus making soil suitable for construction pur-
poses. The maximum dry density (MDD) increases and
the optimum moisture content (OMC) increases initially
and then decreases with the addition of nano materials. A
study of the effect of the combination of nano materials
on the performance of black cotton soil. The study in-
cludes the effect on geotechnical properties of soil,
mainly on the Atterberg’s limits, compaction characteris-
tics, unconfined compressive strength, CBR value and
swelling pressure. nano copper (1, 1.5 and 2.5) w/% and
nano silica
11,12
(0.3, 0.6 and 0.9) w/% is mixed with soil
at three different percentages.
11
The objectives of this research are the study of engi-
neering characteristics of cohesive soil before as well as
after the inclusion of two diverse NMs.
2 EXPERIMENTAL PART
2.1 Kaolinite clay
The majority of prevalent clay is kaolinite, which has
a soft viscosity and an earthy texture. They do not have a
lot of bearing capacity. The study used kaolinite clay
from the Mangalapuram region of Thiruvananthapuram
district. The soil samples were collected, dried, and
ground into a powder. It was examined in accordance
with IS 2720-1985, and the basic soil characteristics
were discovered. The clay’s characteristics are listed in
Table 1.
Table 1: Characteristics of kaolinite clay
Properties Values
specific gravity 2.64
liquid limit, W
L
(%) 75
plastic limit, W
p
(%) 40
shrinkage limit, W
s
(%) 25
plasticity index, I
p (%) 36
percentage of clay (%) 70
percentage of silt (%) 30
optimum moisture content (%) 30
maximum dry density (kg/m
3
) 1440
Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS),
q
u
(kN/m
2
)
12.75
California bearing ratio (%) 1.89
unified soil classification system CH
2.2 Nanocrystalline magnesium oxide (NC MgO)
The NC MgO materials were processed by a solu-
tion-combustion technique. The NC MgO materials were
L. VEENA VIJAYAN, J PRAKASH ARUL JOSE: STABILITY STUDIES OF COHESIVE SOIL ...
188 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 56 (2022) 2, 187–191
Figure 1: Kaolinite clay

obtained through a redox reaction between magnesium
nitrate, Mg(NO
3
)
2
·6H
2
O and hexamine. A flowchart for
the synthesis of NC MgO is shown in Figure 2.T h e
properties of NC MgO are exemplified in Table 2.
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) microstruc-
ture study of MgO SEM photos were collected in the
SEM to understand the shape of the nanoparticles size of
the NC MgO (SEM; FEI Quanta 200 instrument) (Fig-
ures 3a and 3b). The SEM results were captured at vari-
ous magnifications. The annealing MgO NMs seem po-
rous and heavily aggregated with the nano entities,
according to the SEM data. As a consequence, the size of
the NP of MgO could not be precisely determined using
the current SEM observations.
2.3 Nano zinc oxide (ZnO)
Nano-sized nano ZnO powder was prepared by the
ball milling method. Commercially available ZnO pow-
der purity 99.5 % (Himedia Laboratories) was crushed in
steel cells (250 mL) by employing the hardened steel
balls (diameter 10 mm and 20 mm) in ambient atmo-
sphere for diverse times varying from2hto10h.The
synthesized powders were examined by employing a
field-emission SEM (FESEM, FEINova Nano SEM
L. VEENA VIJAYAN, J PRAKASH ARUL JOSE: STABILITY STUDIES OF COHESIVE SOIL ...
Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 56 (2022) 2, 187–191 189
Figure 4: FE SEM images of nano ZnO powders: a) mag. 120 000 ×,
b) mag. 140 000 ×
Figure 2: Flowchart for the synthesis of NC MgO
Table 2: Properties of NC MgO
Content NC MgO
physical state
dry, white coloured powder,
odourless, non-toxic
size (nm) 30–50
magnesium (w/%) 55.32
oxygen (w/%) 44.68
density (kg/m
3
) 3580
molar mass (g/mol) 40.3
melting point (°C) 2852
boiling point (°C) 3600
Figure 3: SEM images of annealed NC MgO attained by combustion
technique: a) mag. 30 000 ×, b) mag. 100 000 ×

450), see Figures 4a and 4b. Table 3 shows the charac-
teristics of the nano zinc oxide powders.
Table 3: Characteristics of mano zinc oxide
Content Sample
physical state
dry, light gray coloured pow-
der, odourless, non toxic
average size (nm) 50–100
shape roughly round
solubility high
zinc (%) 84.07
oxygen (%) 15.93
density (kg/m
3
) 5600
molar mass (g/mol) 81.4
nummelting point (°C) 1975
boiling point (°C)) 2360
2.4 Specimen Preparation
The wet mixing procedure is used to prepare the sam-
ple. After dissolving the nano magnesium powder in
freshwater, it is incorporated into the soil matrices. NC
MgOand nano ZnO was added at varying percentages of
(0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) w/%.
2.5 Experimental study
The soil specimen combined with two different NPs
with concentration of (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) w/%.
Atterberg limits, compaction test, California bearing ra-
tio (CBR) test, unconfined compressive strength (UCC)
test, etc are completed on the specimen processed with
diverse concentration. Water was then introduced at the
appropriate liquid boundary for specimen processing
when conducting UCC tests. OMC is obtained through a
compaction test and used to generate the CBR test sam-
ples.
3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The benefits of nano materials on soft clay and some
of its influencing factors were investigated in this study.
For that, a sequence of tests was made. The details of test
results and related discussions are explained below. The
difference of the CBR values of soft clay mixed with di-
verse percentage of nano MgO and nano ZnO was also
discussed. The liquid restrict of the specimen appears to
be reducing as the NC MgO concentration rises with the
inclusion of various doses.
The outcomes of the compaction study were identi-
fied as, enhanced maximum dry density as well as the re-
sultant OMC content growing. The MDD was attained at
1 w/%. NC MgO as an additive. The outcomes of com-
paction study are shown in Figures 5a and 5b.
Unconfined compressive strength (UCC) enhances
with the rise in percentage addition of NC MgO up to
1 w/% and decreases on further addition, as shown in
Figure 6. The stress-strain reaction of the samples was
calculated and it shows that the maximum stress-strain
variation is obtained for 1 w/%. addition of NC MgO in
clay.
L. VEENA VIJAYAN, J PRAKASH ARUL JOSE: STABILITY STUDIES OF COHESIVE SOIL ...
190 Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 56 (2022) 2, 187–191
Figure 6: Difference of CBR value with addition of NC MgO
Figure 5: Outcomes of compaction study: a) OMC vs MgO, b) MDD
vs MgO Figure 7: Variation in OMC with nano ZnO

With the inclusion of diverse doses of nano zinc ox-
ide, the liquid boundary of the clay specimen was found
to be reducing with the rise in nano concentration. The
liquid constraint of the clay specimen varies from 75 %
to 49.52 % with the rise of nano ZnO from zero to one
percentage. The variations are plotted in Figure 7.
CBR value rises with the upsurge in nano Mg con-
tent. The outcomes of CBR test shows that CBR value
increases up to 0.75 w/% inclusion of nano ZnO, and af-
ter that it declines with rise in nano content, shown in
Figure 8.
Kaolinite clay is mixed with two different nano mate-
rials with different concentrations (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and
1) w/% and laboratory test were performed. The varia-
tion of liquid limits, OMC, MDD, UCC and CBR values
were tabulated for optimum percentage of nano content.
The result shows that clay with one percentage NC MgO
is the best combination for soil stabilization than clay
with nano ZnO. Figure 9 shows the variation of the re-
sults.
4 CONCLUSIONS
NMs were added to selected clay to improve its char-
acteristics. With the inclusion of NMs, the CBR and
UCC values improved, while the clay’s liquid limit fell.
The optimal value of NC MgO content was identified
as 1 w/%.
The liquid boundary of the clay was decreased to
53 % from 75 % with the optimal NC MgO content.
The MDD of clay rises to 2.35 g/cm
3
when preserved
with 1 per cent of NC MgO.
The CBR value of the clay rises to 15.67 % from
1.89 % with the inclusion of NC MgO. Hence, the clay
became appropriate for concrete construction.
The CBR value of the clay was rises to 10.78 % from
1.89 % with the inclusion of nano ZnO.
Hence, it can be determined that NC MgO and nano
ZnO inclusion enhanced the engineering and index char-
acteristics of clay and made it more appropriate for di-
verse determinations. As per this experimental research,
NC MgO gave a greater improvement than the nano ZnO
in clay.
Acknowledgment
The DST-FIST (Ref. No: SR/FST/ET-I/2017/87),
Government of India is acknowledged for the powder
XRD instrumentation (Model D2 Phaser Benchtop
(BRUKER)) facility created at the Department of
Nanotechnology, Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Educa-
tion.
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Materiali in tehnologije / Materials and technology 56 (2022) 2, 187–191 191
Figure 9: Variation of result at optimum nano content
Figure 8: Variation in CBR value with nano ZnO