Coherent diffraction study of calcite crystallization during the hydration of tricalcium silicate

Journal Article · 17 July 2018 · Materials & Design

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2018.07.031 · OSTI ID:1462412

Liu, Xianping  ^[1]; Lin, Wei ^[2]; Chen, Bo ^[3]; Zhang, Fucai ^[4]; Zhao, Piqi ^[5]; Parsons, Aaron ^[6]; Rau, Christoph ^[6]; Robinson, Ian ^[7]

---

1. Tongji Univ., Shanghai (China). School of Materials Science and Engineering; Tongji Univ., Shanghai (China). Key Lab. of Advanced Civil Engineering Materials; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Oxford (United Kingdom). Rutherford Appleton Lab. (RAL). Research Complex at Harwell
2. Tongji Univ., Shanghai (China). School of Materials Science and Engineering
3. Tongji Univ., Shanghai (China). School of Materials Science and Engineering; Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Oxford (United Kingdom). Rutherford Appleton Lab. (RAL). Research Complex at Harwell; Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom). London Centre for Nanotechnology
4. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Oxford (United Kingdom). Rutherford Appleton Lab. (RAL). Research Complex at Harwell; Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom). London Centre for Nanotechnology; Southern Univ. of Science and Technology, Shenzhen (China). Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
5. Univ. of Jinan, Jinan (China). Shangdong Provincial Key Lab. of Preparation and Measurement of Building Materials
6. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Harwell Campus, Oxford (United Kingdom). Diamond Light Source, Ltd.
7. Tongji Univ., Shanghai (China). School of Materials Science and Engineering; Univ. College London, London (United Kingdom). London Centre for Nanotechnology; Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Dept.

The aim of this work is using Bragg coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (BCDI) to study the calcite crystallization during carbonation of hydrated tricalcium silicate (C₃S). Portland cement is a very complex synthesized product whose 50–70% mass is composed of C₃S, which is the most important phase to produce calcium silicate hydrates and calcium hydroxide. Hence, its hydration contributes greatly to the hydration of cement and later to the carbonation of cement products when it reacts with CO₂, often from the air, to form calcium carbonates. BCDI has emerged in the last decade as a promising high-resolution lens-less imaging approach for characterization of various samples. It has made significant progress with the development of X-ray sources and phase-retrieval algorithms. BCDI allows for imaging the whole three-dimensional structure of micro- and sub-micro- crystalline materials and can show the strain distribution at the nanometer spatial resolution. Finally, results show that calcite crystallization follows a through-solution reaction and the growth model of the calcite crystal can be explained by using “phase domain” theory. In conclusion, during carbonation, calcite crystals grow by increasing the number of phase domains within them while the domain size remains at about 200–300 nm.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0012704; 152221; 152243; EP/I022562/1; SC00112704
• OSTI ID: 1462412
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1564391
• Report Number(s): BNL-207895-2018-JAAM
• Journal Information: Materials & Design, Vol. 157, Issue C; ISSN 0264-1275
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Carbonation
Bragg coherent X-ray diffraction imaging (BCDI)
Calcite crystallization
Tricalcium silicate (C3S)