Faculty of Natural Sciences

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nanoscale Ordering and Depolymerization of Calcium Silicate Hydrates in the Presence of Alkalis

AU - Garg, Nishant

AU - Özçelik, V. Ongun

AU - Skibsted, Jørgen

AU - White, Claire E.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Increasing cement production and its substantial contribution to anthropogenic CO2 emissions (∼5-8%) have led to the pursuit of alternative, sustainable cements. These sustainable cements often contain non-negligible amounts of alkalis (Na or K) which significantly influence the resulting material's performance. However, the precise mechanism(s) by which the atomic structure and thermodynamic stability of the primary binder phase is altered remains unknown. Here, we have synthesized 45 pure sodium-substituted calcium-(alumino-)silicate-hydrate (C-(N)-(A)-S-H) gels using a wide range of alkali concentrations (0.1-5 M). We report that the addition of higher levels of alkalis during synthesis of the gels results in a systematic reduction in basal spacing, mean silicate chain lengths, and, most importantly, degree of silicate polymerization. These changes to the gel's extent of polymerization, confirmed by X-ray pair distribution function and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, may have implications on the long-term durability and stability of sustainable cements activated with high levels of alkali hydroxides or silicates. Finally, we compare the nanoscale ordering (between ∼5 and 40 Å) of our synthetic gels with real gels found in commercial systems and find that their nanoscale ordering is significantly different, where the real gels tend to be considerably more disordered.

AB - Increasing cement production and its substantial contribution to anthropogenic CO2 emissions (∼5-8%) have led to the pursuit of alternative, sustainable cements. These sustainable cements often contain non-negligible amounts of alkalis (Na or K) which significantly influence the resulting material's performance. However, the precise mechanism(s) by which the atomic structure and thermodynamic stability of the primary binder phase is altered remains unknown. Here, we have synthesized 45 pure sodium-substituted calcium-(alumino-)silicate-hydrate (C-(N)-(A)-S-H) gels using a wide range of alkali concentrations (0.1-5 M). We report that the addition of higher levels of alkalis during synthesis of the gels results in a systematic reduction in basal spacing, mean silicate chain lengths, and, most importantly, degree of silicate polymerization. These changes to the gel's extent of polymerization, confirmed by X-ray pair distribution function and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, may have implications on the long-term durability and stability of sustainable cements activated with high levels of alkali hydroxides or silicates. Finally, we compare the nanoscale ordering (between ∼5 and 40 Å) of our synthetic gels with real gels found in commercial systems and find that their nanoscale ordering is significantly different, where the real gels tend to be considerably more disordered.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85073005418&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b06412

DO - 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b06412

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85073005418

VL - 123

SP - 24873

EP - 24883

JO - The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C

JF - The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C

SN - 1932-7447

IS - 40

ER -