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Investigation of early growth of calcium hydroxide crystals in cement solution by soft X-ray transmission microscopy

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Abstract

The early growth of calcium hydroxide (CH) crystals in cement solution is investigated by soft X-ray transmission microscopy imaging. A quantitative analysis of the successively recorded images of the hydration process enabled to evaluate the supersaturation ratio of solution, growth rates, both kinetic and diffusion coefficients, and concentrations of solute molecules at \( \{ 10\overline{1} 0\} \) and {0001} facets of the CH crystals. It is concluded that the difference in obtained concentrations of solute molecules at these facets may be associated with solubility anisotropy of crystallographic facets of the CH. The interfacial energy of the CH nuclei in aqueous solution is evaluated to be 0.114 J/m2 that by an order of magnitude is smaller than the average free surface energy of this phase. The proposed theoretical approach is universal and, in potential, may be applied to any precipitating phase in a supersaturated solution.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. D.A. Silva and Dr. K. Benzarti for valuable discussions. The research described in this publication was made possible in part by Award No. ARP2-2610-YE-04 of the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (CRDF). The operations of the ALS are supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05-CH11231.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Solid State Physics, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia

    V. S. Harutyunyan & A. P. Aivazyan

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    A. P. Kirchheim & P. J. M. Monteiro

  3. Center for X-ray Optics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA

    P. Fischer

Authors
  1. V. S. Harutyunyan
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  2. A. P. Kirchheim
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  3. P. J. M. Monteiro
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  4. A. P. Aivazyan
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  5. P. Fischer
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Correspondence to V. S. Harutyunyan.

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Harutyunyan, V.S., Kirchheim, A.P., Monteiro, P.J.M. et al. Investigation of early growth of calcium hydroxide crystals in cement solution by soft X-ray transmission microscopy. J Mater Sci 44, 962–969 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-008-3198-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-008-3198-5

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