Concurrently to research conducted on ordinary Portland cement (PC), new types of binders were developed during the last decades. These are formed by alkali-activation of metakaolin or ground-granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and are named, respectively, geopolymers (GP) or alkali-activated slag (AAS). Four different cementitious materials were synthesised: PC, AAS, GP, and a mix GP-AAS and fully compared about their compositions and (micro)-structures. X-ray diffraction has revealed the presence of semi-crystalline C{single bond}S{single bond}H gel binding phase in PC while AAS, GP and GP-AAS are nearly amorphous. Progressive structural changes have been observed between the different samples by means of infrared spectroscopy, 29Si and 27Al magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: there is a polymerisation extent of the (alumino)-silicate framework from PC [SiQ1 and SiQ2 units] to AAS [SiQ2 and SiQ2(1Al) units] and finally to GP [SiQ4(2Al) and SiQ4(3Al) units]. Scanning electron microscopy has shown that GP is a homogeneous matrix while the other materials are composites containing GGBFS grains surrounded by a binding matrix. Energy dispersive X-ray EDX analyses (line scans) have shown the absence of formation of any specific phase at the matrix-grains interfaces. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
CITATION STYLE
Lecomte, I., Henrist, C., Liégeois, M., Maseri, F., Rulmont, A., & Cloots, R. (2006). (Micro)-structural comparison between geopolymers, alkali-activated slag cement and Portland cement. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 26(16), 3789–3797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2005.12.021
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