Hydration Products and Reactivity of Blast-Furnace Slag Activated by Various Alkalis

• Published in: Journal of the American Ceramic Society Vol. 86; no. 12; pp. 2148 - 2153
• Main Authors: Escalante-García, Jose I., Fuentes, Antonio F., Gorokhovsky, Alexander, Fraire-Luna, Pedro E., Mendoza-Suarez, Guillermo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Westerville, Ohio American Ceramics Society 01.12.2003; Blackwell; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Aggregates and other concrete constituents; alkalis/alkaline earths; Applied sciences; Buildings. Public works; calcium silicate hydrate; Cement concrete constituents; Concrete additives (fillers, pozzolanic and hydraulic materials); Exact sciences and technology; Materials; slags; Hydration; Activated slag; Reaction product; Activation; Experimental study; X ray diffraction; Alkali; CSH phase; Spectrometry; Sample preparation; Reactivity; Energy dispersion; Formulation; Water glass; Chemical composition; Blast furnace slag
• ISSN: 0002-7820; 1551-2916
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1151-2916.2003.tb03623.x

Pastes of blast‐furnace slag were cured for up to 90 d using sodium silicate (waterglass), NaOH, and three different mixtures of Na2CO3–Na2SO4–Ca(OH)2 to activate reactions. The highest slag reactivity was observed for NaOH activation and the least for waterglass, although nonevaporable water indicated similar amounts of hydration products formed. The main hydration products found using X‐ray diffractometry in all systems were calcium silicate hydrate (C‐S‐H) and a hydrotalcite‐type phase. Microanalysis was performed on pastes activated using 50% Na2CO3·25% Na2SO4·25% Ca(OH)2, NaOH, and waterglass; the chemical composition of the C‐S‐H in the waterglass case was different relative to the other two alkalis. For all alkaline agents used, the C‐S‐H seemed finely intermixed with a hydrotalcite‐type phase of Mg/Al = 1.82, on average.