A remark on nano-particle stability of cement C-S-H gel

Abstract

Hydrated pastes of ordinary Portland cement prepared with different water-to-cement ratios were investigated by using the small-angle neutron scattering technique in the region of Q ∈ (0. 0045, 0. 11) Å-1. Samples of cement pastes were subjected to non-standard hydration conditions using a mix with D2O, low RH, and water-to-cement ratios spread over a very wide interval (0. 4; 1. 4). The investigation was focused on testing the structural stability of nano-metric particles in the cement C-S-H gel. Owing to the high structural stability of these nano-particles, their average diameter might be used as a microscopic parameter characterizing the nano-metric structure of C-S-H gels. The average diameter of the nano-particles of the studied ordinary Portland cement CEMI 42. 5 R-SC was found to be close to the value of 4. 2 nm and independent of the water-to-cement ratios. © 2011 Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.