Recent Advances in C-S-H Nucleation Seeding for Improving Cement Performances.

Reducing cement CO footprint is a societal need. This is being achieved mainly by replacing an increasing amount of Portland clinker by supplementary cementitious materials. However, this comes at a price: lower mechanical strengths at early ages due to slow pozzolanic reaction(s).

Portland and Belite Cement Hydration Acceleration by C-S-H Seeds with Variable / Ratios.

The acceleration of very early age cement hydration by C-S-H seeding is getting attention from scholars and field applications because the enhanced early age features do not compromise later age performances. This acceleration could be beneficial for several low-CO cements as a general drawback is usually the low very early age mechanical strengths. However, the mechanistic understanding of this acceleration in commercial cements is not complete.

Effect of Boron and Water-to-Cement Ratio on the Performances of Laboratory Prepared Belite-Ye'elimite-Ferrite (BYF) Cements.

The effect of superplasticiser, borax and the water-to-cement ratio on BYF hydration and mechanical strengths has been studied. Two laboratory-scale BYF cements-st-BYF (with β-CS and orthorhombic CAS¯) and borax-activated B-BYF (with α'-CS and pseudo-cubic CAS¯)-have been used, and both show similar particle size distribution. The addition of superplasticiser and externally added borax to BYF pastes has been optimised through rheological measurements.