Stabilization and characterization of dicalcium silicate belite phase by metallic zinc

Abstract

Cement production generates about 7% of the world's total atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the use of residues, natural or industrial, in a cement manufacturing process, allows solving the environmental problems. Belite-rich cements, in which C2S is the major constituent, have lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cements, he is an alternative type of cement that has attracted scientific interest over the past 20 years. The main objective of this work is the synthesis of the dicalcium silicate belite phase at low temperature (below 1000 °C). For this purpose, it is useful to use a mineralizer such as metallic zinc powder. The samples were prepared by adding proportions of 0% and 3% zinc metal to CaCO3 and SiO2 reagents of Ca/Si ratio = 2. The properties of the belite phase were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).