Influence of combined doping of tricalcium silicate with MgO, Al2O3 and Fe2O3: synthesis, grindability, X-ray diffraction and 29Si NMR

Tricalcium silicate is the major component of ordinary Portland cement and as recently demonstrated is an alternative to ceramic implant material for clinical applications, because of its good biocompatibility. It is known, that the crystal structure of tricalcium silicate depends on the kind and amount of foreign oxides incorporated into the lattice that correlates with materials properties like hydration activity. Up to now, the correlation between structure and materials properties was only quantified for single oxide doping, but nothing is known about combined doping, which is the standard for industrial applications of tricalcium silicate. In this study the influence of single and multiple doping with MgO, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 on the crystal structure and materials properties was quantified. This first part deals with the synthesis, grindability, X-ray diffraction with Rietveld refinement and Si-29 NMR nuclear magnetic resonance of the unhydrated compound, a second paper deals with the hydration reaction.