Hydration characteristics and mechanical performance of lime and gypsum-activated low carbon cementitious materials

doi:10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2025.06.016

Journal of ZheJiang University (Engineering Science)

2025, Vol. 59

Issue (6): 1253-1264 DOI: 10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2025.06.016

Hydration characteristics and mechanical performance of lime and gypsum-activated low carbon cementitious materials

Meng WU1,2,3(

),Yunsheng ZHANG2,*(

),Zhiyong LIU2,Cheng LIU2,Wei SHE2,Liguo WANG2,Rui MA3

1. School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232001, China
2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
3. Anhui Province Engineering Laboratory of Advanced Building Materials, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei 230022, China

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Abstract

The composite slag and fly ash were used as the main precursors to design and prepare a novel type of lime and gypsum-activated low carbon cementitious material (LCM), to decrease the environmental loading of the cement industry. The evolution rules of mechanical properties of LCM mixtures with different mass ratios and the hydration characteristics of LCM were analyzed via quantitative X-ray diffraction (QXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) method. Results showed that the hydration products of LCM were mainly composed of ettringite, C-(A)-S-H gel with a low Ca/Si atomic ratio, and a small amount of AFm-CO₃. A large amount of ettringite formed in the early stage of hydration, causing the heat flow curve of LCM to exhibit a new exothermic peak during the decelerating period of hydration. After long-term hydration, rod-like ettringite crystals were embedded into C-(A)-S-H gel as the skeleton, forming a dense paste, and the pore structure of LCM had a high tortuosity and low connectivity. The mechanical performance of LCM at various ages was significantly increased by optimizing the mixture proportion. The compressive strength of C3 mortar at 28 days could reach 53.5 MPa, which represented an increase of 37.9% compared to the control group, and the strength continued to increase over time. A small amount of Portland cement was introduced into the LCM, which effectively increased the alkalinity of the liquid phase, promoted the hydration reaction of the mineral admixtures and increased the overall hydration rate of LCM, thereby improving the mechanical properties of LCM in the mid-to-late stages.

Key words： lime cementitious material hydration product pore structure C-(A)-S-H

Received: 29 August 2024 Published: 30 May 2025

CLC:

TU 528

Fund: 国家自然科学基金资助项目（52208228, U21A20150, 52078125）；国家重点研究计划资助项目（2019YFC19044900）；安徽省先进建筑材料重点实验室开放课题资助项目（JZCL202406KF）.

Corresponding Authors: Yunsheng ZHANG E-mail: wumengseu@qq.com;zhangys279@163.com

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	Meng WU
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	Liguo WANG
	Rui MA

Cite this article:

Meng WU,Yunsheng ZHANG,Zhiyong LIU,Cheng LIU,Wei SHE,Liguo WANG,Rui MA. Hydration characteristics and mechanical performance of lime and gypsum-activated low carbon cementitious materials. Journal of ZheJiang University (Engineering Science), 2025, 59(6): 1253-1264.

URL:

https://www.zjujournals.com/eng/10.3785/j.issn.1008-973X.2025.06.016 OR https://www.zjujournals.com/eng/Y2025/V59/I6/1253

石灰激发低碳胶凝材料的水化特性与力学性能

为了降低传统水泥工业对环境的负荷，将矿渣粉与粉煤灰复合作为主要前驱体，设计和制备了新型石灰石膏激发低碳胶凝材料（LCM）. 采用X射线衍射定量分析（QXRD）、热重分析（TGA）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、压汞法（MIP）、扫描电镜-能谱仪分析（SEM-EDS）等测试方法分析LCM水化特性并探究采用不同质量比的LCM的力学性能演变规律. 结果表明：LCM水化产物主要包括钙矾石、低钙硅原子比C-(A)-S-H凝胶及少量AFm-CO₃；在水化早期，钙矾石大量形成，会导致LCM的热流曲线在水化减速期出现新的水化放热峰；在长期水化后，杆棒状钙矾石晶体作为骨架嵌入C-(A)-S-H凝胶当中并形成致密整体，此时LCM孔隙结构具有较高的曲折度与较低的连通度. 通过优化LCM质量比，可显著提升LCM各龄期的力学性能，其中C3砂浆28 d抗压强度可达53.5 MPa，与对照组相比，抗压强度提高37.9%，且后期强度持续增加. 在LCM中掺入少量硅酸盐水泥，能提高液相碱性，从而有效促进矿物掺和料的水化反应，并提高LCM整体水化速率，进而提升LCM中后期力学性能.

关键词： 石灰, 胶凝材料, 水化产物, 孔隙结构, C-(A)-S-H

Tab.1 Chemical compositions of raw materials

Tab.2 Mass fraction comparison of LCM

Fig.1 XRD patterns of LCM samples

Fig.2 Quantitative analysis results of XRD patterns of LCM samples

Fig.3 FTIR spectra of LCM samples

Fig.4 TGA curves of LCM samples after 90 days

Tab.3 Content of Ca(OH)₂ and chemically bound water in LCM samples at 90 days

Fig.5 SEM images of microstructure of C3 samples at 3 and 90 days

Fig.6 Result of MIP test of LCM samples at 90 days

Tab.4 Parameters of pore structure of LCM samples

Fig.7 Hydration rate and cumulative heat of hydration of LCM samples

Fig.8 Influence of mass fraction of gypsum on heat of hydration of LCM

Fig.9 pH value of pore solution from LCM fresh and hardened paste

Fig.10 Evolution rule of mechanical strength of LCM samples

Tab.5 Carbon emission of raw materials and LCM samples


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