A new publication titled “Nanoscale Ordering and Depolymerization of Calcium Silicate Hydrates in the Presence of Alkalis” was published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C in September 2019.
Sustainable cements like alkali-activated materials often contain non-negligible amounts of alkalis (Na or K) which significantly influence the resulting material’s performance. However, the precise role of these alkalis is not fully understood. In this publication, using a combination of X-ray PDF and NMR, we present evidence on the silicate polymerization and the structure of the CNASH gel. Additionally, we also report novel data on the long-range atomic ordering of a series of 45 synthetic gels.
The article can be accessed here.