Efflorescence of alkali-activated cements (geopolymers) and the impacts on material structures : a critical analysis

Even with the rapid development of the alkali-activated cement (AAC) technology in the past few years, some phenomena still needs to be better understood, that may alter the durability of the material. In many industrial uses and laboratory researches the formation of the salts on the surface alkali-activated type cements was observed, which was identified as efflorescence. This occurs due to the presence of an alkali transported in contact with the humidity and CO2 environment. It may present externally from the formation of salts on the surface and internally with the carbonation of the alkalis in capillary pores. The effects of efflorescence on the material in use, as well as all factors that can influence its formation are not yet fully understood or reported. The search for papers was conducted using the search words efflorescence and geopolymer/alkali-activated, combined in the electronic data base. Due to the limited quantity of papers published related to efflorescence in geopolymers, the review was complemented using papers that discuss this behavior in Portland cement (PC) and based on the main properties that can influence the formation of efflorescence. In this paper, to understand the nature of efflorescence, upon which proper methods of minimizing of this issue can be based, the following aspects are discussed and re-examined: (1) the development of efflorescence’s in PC concrete, (2) the role of alkalis in AACs, (3) efflorescence in AACs, and (4) effect from a physical and microstructural point of view of efflorescence’s on the ACCs. This paper highlights that the nature of the pore structure and the design parameters (such as alkali concentration, presence of soluble silicates, and water content in the activator) are the two most important factors that control efflorescence rate and changes inmechanical behavior. However, the stability of the alkalis and their relationship with the formed gel, which are determining factors in the formation of efflorescence, remain not completely understood. In the same way, the effect of efflorescence in tensile strength and shrinkage needs to be evaluated

Structure of Portland Cement Pastes Blended with Sonicated Silica Fume

[EN] Application of power ultrasound to enhance dispersion of commercial densified silica fume leads to increased compressive strengths and refinement of the pore structure in mortars, compared with those that are untreated. This was attributed to the enhanced pozzolanic reactivity achieved by particle dispersion through sonication, leading to higher consumption of portlandite during curing, and formation of a calcium silicate hydrate gel with a higher degree of cross-linking than is identified in specimens with densified silica fume. This suggests that with the use of sonicated silica fume, it is possible to reduce the required quantity of admixture in blended cements to achieve specified performance, with the additional advantage of the formation of a highly densified structure and refined pore network, contributing to potential improvements in durability.This study was sponsored by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion of Spain (Project SILISONIC BIA-2007-63252 and research scholarships BES-2008-002440 and EEBB-2011-43847), the European regional development fund (FEDER), and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Spain). Participation of SAB and JLP was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), including partial funding through the Particulate Fluids Processing Centre, a Special Research Centre of the ARC. The authors thank Dr. John Gehman for support in conducting the NMR experiments at the Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia.Rodriguez Martinez, ED.; Bernal, SA.; Provis, JL.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ.; Monzó Balbuena, JM.; Borrachero Rosado, MV. (2012). Structure of Portland Cement Pastes Blended with Sonicated Silica Fume. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. 24:1295-1304. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000502S129513042

Influence of the use of accelerating admixture based on calcium nitrate in the performance of fly ash blended Portland cement mortars

A construção civil tende a exigir a otimização dos processos, com prazos de entrega reduzidos. Logo, tornase necessária a busca por alternativas que forneçam as propriedades necessárias ao concreto em períodos de tempo mais curtos. O objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a influência de um aditivo acelerador de resistência baseado em nitrato de cálcio na resistência à compressão e em propriedades físicas de argamassas de cimento Portland, com diferentes teores de cinza volante (CV), visando analisar se a incorporação do aditivo compensaria a baixa contribuição desta adição nas resistências nas primeiras idades. Foram realizados ensaios de calorimetria isotérmica, absorção de água por capilaridade, índice de consistência e resistência à compressão em misturas com teores de aditivo de 0%, 0,33%, 0,66% e 1,00%. No que se refere ao tempo de pega final, nas amostras sem CV, o aditivo reduziu este período. Nas amostras com 40% e 60% de CV, verificou-se um aumento deste tempo. Para as resistências à compressão de 1 dia, o teor de aditivo que gerou os maiores valores foi de 1,00% para as argamassas com 0% e 40% CV, não existindo diferenças estatisticamente significativas para os sistemas com 60%. Já em idades superiores, o aditivo ocasionou reduções na resistência das amostras sem CV e aumentos proporcionais ao teor de aditivo nas amostras com 40% e 60% de CV. Constatou-se que as argamassas com aditivo e sem adição de CV apresentaram uma redução no índice de absorção por capilaridade. Já para as amostras com 40% e 60% de CV os menores índices de absorção foram obtidos nos traços sem aditivo. Portanto, é possível concluir que o aditivo avaliado nesta pesquisa acelerou as reações de hidratação, gerando um aumento nas resistências em idades iniciais, mas com um acréscimo insuficiente para compensar a queda de resistência pela incorporação de CV na composição das amostras. Levando em consideração as diferentes propriedades avaliadas, observou-se não ser possível estabelecer um teor ótimo de aditivo para cada teor de CV estabelecido. Sendo necessário avaliar qual propriedade é de maior interesse ao usuário.Civil construction tends to require the optimization of processes with reduced times. Therefore, it is necessary to search for alternatives that provide the required properties to the concrete, in shorter periods of time. The objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of a calcium nitrate based accelerator admixture on the properties of Portland cement mortars with different fly ash (FA) contents, in order to analyze the effect in the incorporation of the admixture, mainly if the accelerator is able to compensate the low strength contribution of the FA at early ages. Tests were carried out using isothermal calorimetry, water absorption by capillarity, consistency index and compressive strength in mixtures with admixture contents of 0%, 0,33%, 0,66% and 1,00%. Regarding setting time results, as excepted the admixture accelerated the final setting time. By the other hand, in the samples with 40% and 60% of FA, an increase of the final setting time was verified. For the 1-day compressive strengths, the admixture content that have generated the highest values was 1.00% for mortars with 0% and 40% FA. At higher ages, the admixtures led to reduce the compressive strength values of the samples without FA. On the other hand, in the samples with 40% and 60% of FA with the use of the accelerator higher compressive strength were identified. It was verified that the mortars with admixture and without addition of FA showed a reduction in the absorption index by capillarity. For the samples with 40% and 60% of FA, the lower absorption index was obtained in the samples without admixture. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the admixture evaluated in this research accelerated the hydration reactions, generating an increase in the compressive strength at early ages, but with an insufficient increase to compensate the lower reactivity of the FA. Taking into account the different properties evaluated, it was not possible to establish an optimum admixture content for each FA content. It is necessary to evaluate which property is of greater interest to the user

Effect of gypsum on the early hydration of cubic and Na-doped orthorhombic tricalcium aluminate

The tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and sulfate content in cement influence the hydration chemistry, setting time and rheology of cement paste, mortar and concrete. Here, in situ experiments are performed to better understand the effect of gypsum on the early hydration of cubic (cub-)C3A and Na-doped orthorhombic (orth-)C3A. The isothermal calorimetry data show that the solid-phase assemblage produced by the hydration of C3A is greatly modified as a function of its crystal structure type and gypsum content, the latter of which induces non-linear changes in the heat release rate. These data are consistent with the in situ X-ray diffraction results, which show that a higher gypsum content accelerates the consumption of orth-C3A and the subsequent precipitation of ettringite, which is contrary to the cub-C3A system where gypsum retarded the hydration rate. These in situ results provide new insight into the relationship between the chemistry and early-age properties of cub- and orth-C3A hydration and corroborate the reported ex situ findings of these systems

Potencial de uso de um resíduo de lodo de efluentes de indústrias de papel em matrizes cimentícias

Essa pesquisa teve por finalidade avaliar um resíduo de lodo de efluentes de indústrias de papel quanto à potencialidade de emprego em matrizes cimentícias. Verificou-se a composição química do resíduo e realizaram-se misturas com adições de 0, 5 e 10%, em relação à massa de cimento. As matrizes cimentícias foram analisadas por meio de calorimetria isotérmica, resistência à compressão, resistência à tração na compressão diametral, absorção de água por capilaridade, densidade de massa aparente e módulo de elasticidade dinâmico. Os resultados obtidos não foram satisfatórios, visto que a adição do resíduo à matriz apresentou aumento no consumo de cimento para atingir a resistência requerida e aumento no consumo de água para manutenção da consistência. Palavras-chave: argamassa, matrizes cimentícias, resíduo industrial, lodo de papel

Use potential of a paper sludge waste from tissue paper industries in cementitious materials

Essa pesquisa teve por finalidade avaliar um resíduo de lodo de efluentes de indústrias de papel quanto à potencialidade de emprego em matrizes cimentícias. Verificou-se a composição química do resíduo e realizaram-se misturas com adições de 0, 5 e 10%, em relação à massa de cimento. As matrizes cimentícias foram analisadas por meio de calorimetria isotérmica, resistência à compressão, resistência à tração na compressão diametral, absorção de água por capilaridade, densidade de massa aparente e módulo de elasticidade dinâmico. Os resultados obtidos não foram satisfatórios, visto que a adição do resíduo à matriz apresentou aumento no consumo de cimento para atingir a resistência requerida e aumento no consumo de água para manutenção da consistência.The purpose of this study was to evaluate a paper sludge waste obtained from tissue paper industries regarding its potential for use in cementitious materials. The chemical composition of the waste was assessed and mixtures were made with 0%, 5% and 10% additions of the material, by mass of cement. The cement matrices were analysed experimentally by isothermal calorimetry, compressive strength and tensile strength by diametric compression, water absorption by capillarity, apparent mass density and dynamic modulus of elasticity. The results obtained were not satisfactory, since the addition of the paper sludge waste showed an increase in the cement consumption to reach the required compressive strength, as well as a rise in water consumption in order to maintain the mortar consistency

The Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia : design, results and future prospects

The impact of many unfavorable childhood traits or diseases, such as low birth weight and mental disorders, is not limited to childhood and adolescence, as they are also associated with poor outcomes in adulthood, such as cardiovascular disease. Insight into the genetic etiology of childhood and adolescent traits and disorders may therefore provide new perspectives, not only on how to improve wellbeing during childhood, but also how to prevent later adverse outcomes. To achieve the sample sizes required for genetic research, the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia were established. The majority of the participating cohorts are longitudinal population-based samples, but other cohorts with data on early childhood phenotypes are also involved. Cohorts often have a broad focus and collect(ed) data on various somatic and psychiatric traits as well as environmental factors. Genetic variants have been successfully identified for multiple traits, for example, birth weight, atopic dermatitis, childhood BMI, allergic sensitization, and pubertal growth. Furthermore, the results have shown that genetic factors also partly underlie the association with adult traits. As sample sizes are still increasing, it is expected that future analyses will identify additional variants. This, in combination with the development of innovative statistical methods, will provide detailed insight on the mechanisms underlying the transition from childhood to adult disorders. Both consortia welcome new collaborations. Policies and contact details are available from the corresponding authors of this manuscript and/or the consortium websites.Peer reviewe

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Vaccine breakthrough hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs

Life-threatening `breakthrough' cases of critical COVID-19 are attributed to poor or waning antibody response to the SARS- CoV-2 vaccine in individuals already at risk. Pre-existing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs underlie at least 15% of critical COVID-19 pneumonia cases in unvaccinated individuals; however, their contribution to hypoxemic breakthrough cases in vaccinated people remains unknown. Here, we studied a cohort of 48 individuals ( age 20-86 years) who received 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine and developed a breakthrough infection with hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia 2 weeks to 4 months later. Antibody levels to the vaccine, neutralization of the virus, and auto- Abs to type I IFNs were measured in the plasma. Forty-two individuals had no known deficiency of B cell immunity and a normal antibody response to the vaccine. Among them, ten (24%) had auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs (aged 43-86 years). Eight of these ten patients had auto-Abs neutralizing both IFN-a2 and IFN-., while two neutralized IFN-omega only. No patient neutralized IFN-ss. Seven neutralized 10 ng/mL of type I IFNs, and three 100 pg/mL only. Seven patients neutralized SARS-CoV-2 D614G and the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) efficiently, while one patient neutralized Delta slightly less efficiently. Two of the three patients neutralizing only 100 pg/mL of type I IFNs neutralized both D61G and Delta less efficiently. Despite two mRNA vaccine inoculations and the presence of circulating antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs may underlie a significant proportion of hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia cases, highlighting the importance of this particularly vulnerable population