Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 7, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/srep44032
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Funding
- US National Science Foundation under the SusChEM Program [DMR-1410557]
- Republic of Singapore's National Research Foundation
- Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
- Chinese Scholarship Council [201206090127]
- Division Of Materials Research
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [1410557] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The incorporation of Al and increased curing temperature promotes the crystallization and cross-linking of calcium (alumino) silicate hydrate (C-(A-)S-H), which is the primary binding phase in most contemporary concrete materials. However, the influence of Al-induced structural changes on the mechanical properties at atomistic scale is not well understood. Herein, synchrotron radiation-based high-pressure X-ray diffraction is used to quantify the influence of dreierketten chain cross-linking on the anisotropic mechanical behavior of C-(A-)S-H. We show that the ab-planar stiffness is independent of dreierketten chain defects, e.g. vacancies in bridging tetrahedra sites and Al for Si substitution. The c-axis of non-cross-linked C-(A-)S-H is more deformable due to the softer interlayer opening but stiffens with decreased spacing and/or increased zeolitic water and Ca2+ of the interlayer. Dreierketten chain cross-links act as 'columns' to resist compression, thus increasing the bulk modulus of C-(A-)S-H. We provide the first experimental evidence on the influence of the Al-induced atomistic configurational change on the mechanical properties of C-(A-)S-H. Our work advances the fundamental knowledge of C-(A-)S-H on the lowest level of its hierarchical structure, and thus can impact the way that innovative C-(A-)S-H-based cementitious materials are developed using a 'bottom-up' approach.
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