Strength Development and Thermogravimetric Investigation of High-Volume Fly Ash Binders.

To address sustainability issues by facilitating the use of high-volume fly ash (HVFA) concrete in industry, this paper investigates the early age hydration properties of HVFA binders in concrete and the correlation between hydration properties and compressive strengths of the cement pastes. A new method of calculating the chemically bound water of HVFA binders was used and validated. Fly ash (FA) types used in this study were sourced from Indonesia and Australia for comparison.

Phase evolution of Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O gels in synthetic aluminosilicate binders.

This study demonstrates the production of stoichiometrically controlled alkali-aluminosilicate gels ('geopolymers') via alkali-activation of high-purity synthetic amorphous aluminosilicate powders. This method provides for the first time a process by which the chemistry of aluminosilicate-based cementitious materials may be accurately simulated by pure synthetic systems, allowing elucidation of physicochemical phenomena controlling alkali-aluminosilicate gel formation which has until now been impeded by the inability to isolate and control key variables. Phase evolution and nanostructural development of these materials are examined using advanced characterisation techniques, including solid state MAS NMR spectroscopy probing (29)Si, (27)Al and (23)Na nuclei.

Generalized structural description of calcium-sodium aluminosilicate hydrate gels: the cross-linked substituted tobermorite model.

Structural models for the primary strength and durability-giving reaction product in modern cements, a calcium (alumino)silicate hydrate gel, have previously been based solely on non-cross-linked tobermorite structures. However, recent experimental studies of laboratory-synthesized and alkali-activated slag (AAS) binders have indicated that the calcium-sodium aluminosilicate hydrate [C-(N)-A-S-H] gel formed in these systems can be significantly cross-linked. Here, we propose a model that describes the C-(N)-A-S-H gel as a mixture of cross-linked and non-cross-linked tobermorite-based structures (the cross-linked substituted tobermorite model, CSTM), which can more appropriately describe the spectroscopic and density information available for this material.