Water in "Green" Cementitious Materials

Research Project, 2019 – 2022

With the aim of decreasing the environmental impact of concrete, various cement replacement materials are introduced as “green” binders in order to reduce the CO2 emission from the production of Portland cement. To assure moisture safe building construction, there is an urgent need for understanding the water in the concrete with these “green” binders. This project intends to advance the fundamental knowledge of water state and behaviour in the concrete with “green” binders from the molecular structures to the macro-properties so as to be able to supply mechanism-based tools and design guidelines for practical applications in building construction; thus enabling the implementation of new types of “green” binders which is necessary for reducing the environmental impact of construction. The project will be carried out in close collaboration between the experts of building materials, theoretical chemistry, biological physics and concrete industrial experts to study the molecular structures and behaviour of water in hydration products, the pore structures and chemical compositions in the pore solutions, and the effects of chemical compositions and pore sizes on the transport properties of pore water. The aim is to develop practically applicable test methods for evaluating the moisture transport properties, and to establish suitable models for describing the water state and behaviour in the concrete with different types of cementitious materials.