Abstract
Although dissolution theory is widely used, in certain circumstance, it seems to be unable to explain the hydration of C3S. In this article, more attention is paid to the nucleation of hydration products. We find that the precipitation of C-S-H is a nonclassical nucleation process. It starts with nucleation of primary particles and then grows by particle attachment. A sharp increase in the reaction rate after induction period may come from the accelerating growth rate of C-S-H instead of dissolution of etch pits. The duration of induction period relates to the size of primary floc. Potassium salts influence the primary globule floc size and mitigate the effect from Al. The pH impacts ion species in solution to affect the dissolution and precipitation. A hypothesis regarding the dissolution of C3S and nucleation of C-S-H within the near-surface region may narrow the gap between dissolution theory and protective layer theory.
Highlights
The hydration of cement is a sophisticated process, but the research of it is of great significance for both practical and scientific interest
This results in a different precipitation process, which will be further indicated by X-ray diffraction (XRD)
The hydration of C3S with a very high w/c is difficult to be explained by the dissolution theory with only with focus on the thermodynamic state of the bulk pore solution, because the dissolved percentage of C3S detected from calorimetry and XRD test presents little differences be tween low (0.5) and high (200, 600) w/c
Summary
The hydration of cement is a sophisticated process, but the research of it is of great significance for both practical and scientific interest. There were several reviews on the investigation of the hydration mechanism. Even though it has been studied for so many years, some problems remain unsolved or under argument for the hydration of some pure minerals. The duration of period I and the reaction rate at this period would be affected by many factors, including intrinsic properties (particle size, doping of impure elements and annealing treatment) and external factors (inorganic salts, organic chemicals and temperature). We present a short review on some interesting investigations about how these factors impact the hydration of C3S or cement during the IP
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