Quantitative disentanglement of nanocrystalline phases in cement pastes by synchrotron ptychographic X-ray tomography.

ABSTRACT: Mortars and concretes are ubiquitous materials with very complex hierarchical microstructures. To fully understand their main properties and to decrease their CO₂ footprint, a sound description of their spatially resolved mineralogy is necessary. Developing this knowledge is very challenging as about half of the volume of hydrated cement is a nanocrystalline component, calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) gel. Furthermore, other poorly crystalline phases (e.g. iron siliceous hydrogarnet or silica oxide) may coexist, which are even more difficult to characterize. Traditional spatially resolved techniques such as electron microscopy involve complex sample preparation steps that often lead to artefacts (e.g. dehydration and microstructural changes). Here, synchrotron ptyc

SUBMITTER: Cuesta A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6503921 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature