Mass Density and Water Content of Saturated Never-Dried Calcium Silicate Hydrates

Calcium silicate hydrates (C–S–H) are the most abundant hydration products in ordinary Portland cement paste. Yet, despite the critical role they play in determining mechanical and transport properties, there is still a debate about their density and exact composition. Here, the site-specific mass d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Langmuir 2015-04, Vol.31 (13), p.3779-3783
Main Authors: da Silva, Julio C, Trtik, Pavel, Diaz, Ana, Holler, Mirko, Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel, Raabe, Jörg, Bunk, Oliver, Menzel, Andreas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical chemistry
Chemical Sciences
Engineering Sciences
Material chemistry
Materials
Optics
or physical chemistry
Photonic
Signal and Image processing
Theoretical and
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Summary:Calcium silicate hydrates (C–S–H) are the most abundant hydration products in ordinary Portland cement paste. Yet, despite the critical role they play in determining mechanical and transport properties, there is still a debate about their density and exact composition. Here, the site-specific mass density and composition of C–S–H in hydrated cement paste are determined with nanoscale resolution in a nondestructive approach. We used ptychographic X-ray computed tomography in order to determine spatially resolved mass density and water content of the C–S–H within the microstructure of the cement paste. Our findings indicate that the C–S–H at the border of hydrated alite particles possibly have a higher density than the apparent inner-product C–S–H, which is contrary to the common expectations from previous works on hydrated cement paste.
ISSN:0743-7463
1520-5827
DOI:10.1021/la504478j