Zero-CO2 cement concept evaluated with novel Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

Project Information

NMRCement

Grant agreement ID: 896824

DOI

10.3030/896824

Project terminated on 31 December 2022

EC signature date 25 February 2020

Start date 1 September 2021

End date 31 August 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 190 680,96

EU contribution

€ 190 680,96

Coordinated by

OULUN YLIOPISTO
Finland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NMRCement (Zero-CO2 cement concept evaluated with novel Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR))

Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The production of cement is predicted to account for 25% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by 2025. There is a need to produce novel reduced CO2 cement materials to reduce global carbon emissions. This project investigated gepolymers, an emerging construction material that can be used as a cement alternative with lower CO2 emissions. It is well known that geopolymers have favorable mechanical properties such as strength in compression, however detailed knowledge of the curing process and the pore structure are still needed. To meet address these questions, the tuneability of the pore network, curing time and mechanism of geopolymers was characterized with varying compositions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

It was shown that the curing time and pore structure of geopolymers are only moderately affected by the amount of water used in the initial reaction. However, the curing time and reaction mechanism during curing are highly sensitive to the ratio of aluminum and silica used in the initial reaction. One important finding of these studies was that the pore network formed inside geopolymers is a continuous, interconnected pore network accessible to both gases and water. These findings together give key information regarding usable source materials, manufacturing conditions, and long term stability of geopolymer based cement products.

Additional outcome of this work includes training activities of the fellow. This work was done as part of a collaboration between the NMR Research Unit and the Fibre and Particle Engineering Group at the University of Oulu. This gave the Fellow unique access to training in a wide range of methods from microscopy, nitrogen desorption measurements, NMR, and synthesis of the materials. Additionally, the Fellow attending training in University Pedagogy. The Fellow attending several conferences to present this work including EUROMAR, The Finnish NMR Symposium, and Diffusion Fundamentals. The work was published in high impact publications in a field specific journal, Cement and Concrete Research.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The work expanded on the state of the art and thus resulted in high impact publications. Before this work, studies of the pore structure and curing times of geopolymers were limited to destructive and invasive methods such as nitrogen desorption and microscopy. This work utilized Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) studies of the hydrogen found inside the geopolymer framework as well as of water and Xenon gas trapped inside the pores of the geopolymer. This allowed for longitudinal studies of the curing of samples as a function of water content and alumina to silica ratio as well as non-invasive studies of the pore accessibility to water and gas. The most important findings were that the curing mechanism, pore structure, and pore accessibility are a function of water content as well as silica to alumina ratio. The effect on wider society is that the evaluation of a low CO2 cement product was evaluated for feasibility and further characterization for use as cement.

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