Publications related to Hydration of cementitious materials, present and future

CO2 Capture and Management Strategies for Decarbonizing Secondary Aluminium Production

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego, Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos, Réginald Germanier

The production of aluminium largely depends on the use of fossil fuels, resulting in the emission of significant amounts of greenhouse gases. As the aluminium industry is working towards decreasing its environmental burdens, the elimination of direct emiss ...

2024

Decarbonizing the fertilizers sector: an alternative pathway for urea and nitric acid production

François Maréchal, Daniel Alexander Florez Orrego, Meire Ellen Gorete Ribeiro Domingos

In order to alleviate the environmental impact that nitrogen fertilizers production is responsible for, several efforts have been addressed to incentivize the partial or total decarbonization of the supply chains of ammonia and its derivatives. The decarbo ...

2024

Additively manufactured steel reinforcement for small scale reinforced concrete modeling: Tensile and bond behavior

Christian Leinenbach, Rafal Wróbel

Small scale (1:30-1:40) Reinforced Concrete is useful for centrifuge testing. However, manufacturing the reinforcing cages by hand at this scale is practically difficult. This paper suggests that small scale reinforcement can be manufactured using a metal ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2024

Impact of anthropogenic emission control in reducing future PM2.5 concentrations and the related oxidative potential across different regions of China

Yuan Yuan, Athanasios Nenes

Affected by both future anthropogenic emissions and climate change, future prediction of PM2.5 and its Oxidative Potential (OP) distribution is a significant challenge, especially in developing countries like China. To overcome this challenge, we estimated ...

Elsevier2024

Atomistic modeling of C-S-H: bulk and surface

Ziga Casar

By replacing part of Portland cement with so-called supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) it is possible to reduce the CO2 footprint of the cement industry. These SCMs are commonly limestone, calcined clay, slag and fly ash. While doing so the early ...

EPFL2023

The role of Zn in C-S-H atomic structure, nucleation and growth

Anna Morales Melgares

The most promising solution towards cementitious materials with a lower carbon footprint is the partial substitution of the clinker by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, blast furnace slag, limestone and calcined clays. The produc ...

EPFL2023

Atomic-Level and Surface Structure of Calcium Silicate Hydrate Nanofoils

Paul Bowen, Karen Scrivener, Aslam Kunhi Mohamed, Ziga Casar

Deciphering the calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) surface is crucial for unraveling the mechanisms of cement hydration and property development. Experimental observations of C-S-H in cement systems suggest a surface termination which is fundamentally differ ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

Influence of Low- to Medium-Kaolinite Clay on the Durability of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) Concrete

Karen Scrivener, Matea Flegar

The kaolinite content is principally responsible for the durability performance of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3), which calls into question its global applicability. The clay supply has a significant impact on the LC3 system's reduced carbon footpri ...

MDPI2023

Data-driven optimization tool for the functional, economic, and environmental properties of blended cement concrete using supplementary cementitious materials

Hisham Tarek Mohamed Hafez

The need to produce more sustainable concrete is proving imminent given the rising environmental concerns facing the industry. Blended cement concrete, based on any of the prominent supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, ground granul ...

ELSEVIER2023

Action Levers towards Sustainable Wellbeing: Re-Thinking Negative Emissions, Sufficiency, Deliberative Democracy

Sascha Nick

Systems theory defines leverage points as places to intervene in order to change a system. Points with high impact on system behavior are notoriously hard to act upon, and indeed most policy intervention is based at the lowest level (#12 in Donella Meadows ...

EPFL2023

Advances in hydration and thermodynamics of cementitious systems

Patrick Juilland, Karen Scrivener, Aslam Kunhi Mohamed, Thomas Matschei, Fabien Jacques Michel Georget

Optimising the hydration of cementitious materials is crucial to leverage their full potential and avoid wasting resources, embodied energy and CO2. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms is key to reach these objectives. In this paper, we review progres ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Impact of substrate clogging on vertical connectivity

Giovanni De Cesare, Romain Maxime Dubuis, Robin Schroff

Connectivity between the hyporheic zone and the flow is essential for the development of benthos and the reproductive success of spawning fish. The infiltration of fine sediment leads to clogging of the riverbed, reducing porosity and vertical water exchan ...

2023

A long-term study on structural changes in calcium aluminate silicate hydrates

Christian Ludwig, Barbara Lothenbach, Sonya Barzgar, Yu Yan, Mohamed Tarik

Production of blended cements in which Portland cement is combined with supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) is an effective strategy for reducing the CO2 emissions during cement manufacturing and achieving sustainable concrete production. However, t ...

SPRINGER2022

The influence of sulfate addition on hydration kinetics and C-S-H morphology of C3S and C3S/C(3)A systems

Karen Scrivener, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva

A comprehensive understanding of hydration kinetics, sulfate requirement and phase assemblage of Portland cement is crucial for further optimization of early-age performance, especially when part of cement is replaced by mineral additions in blended cement ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2022

The Rise of Portland Cements

Karen Scrivener, Ruben Anton Snellings

This chapter tells the story of Portland cement, from its invention in the tured mineral product. The success story of Portland cement is rooted in the unique combination of the abundance of its raw materials, the reactivity of the high-temperature clinker ...

MINERALOGICAL SOC AMER2022

Microstructural developments of limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) pastes after long-term (3 years) hydration

Karen Scrivener, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva

LC3 is one of the most promising alternatives for a high-performance blended cement with a significantly lower clinker content and with potential for worldwide adoption. For this reason, understanding its long-term performance is relevant to ensure service ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2022

Hydration and mixture design of calcined clay blended cements: review by the RILEM TC 282-CCL

Mohsen Ben Haha, Karen Scrivener, François Henri Avet, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva, Anuj Parashar, Sreejith Krishnan, Yuvaraj Dhandapani

The RILEM technical committee 282-CCL: Calcined Clays as Supplementary Cementitious Materials, investigates all the aspects related to calcined clays, from clay exploration and characterization to calcination process, hydration reactions and concrete prope ...

SPRINGER2022

Reactive dicalcium silicate binders: Microstructure and transport properties

Adrian-Alexandru Pîrvan

The calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) are without doubt one of the most important hydration products in a hardened cement paste. Giving the complexity of the microstructure that forms by hydration of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and the more recently use ...

EPFL2022

Hydration and durability of fast hardening binders incorporating supplementary cementitious materials

Sarra El Housseini

The use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) is widely considered the most promis-ing approach to reduce CO2 emissions relative to cement production. SCMs are not commonly present in binders used for special applications. On the other hand, due t ...

EPFL2022

Atomistic Simulation of Cementitious Systems: An Insight Into Adsorption of Ions and Small Molecules Onto Portlandite and C-S-H Surfaces

Masood Valavi

Calcium-Silicate-Hydrate (C-S-H) has been studied extensively over the last few decades to gain understanding toward the underlying mechanism of different stages during cement hydration. The variable stoichiometry and nanocrystallinity of C-S-H makes it di ...

EPFL2022