Reaction Mechanism and Properties of Cement-Based Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Cement is one of the most important building materials in human history and is used to build various infrastructures due to its high strength, excellent durability, and relatively low cost. The microstructure of cement-based materials is composed of cement paste system, stone, porosity, water content, and other components. Among them, the cement paste system, mainly the hydration product of clinker or reaction precursor, is the most important component of cement-based materials. The microstructure of reaction product, pores, and constituent phase, and the hardening process of cement paste system have crucial influences on the mechanical and physical properties of the resulting materials. The in-depth understanding of the relationship between microstructure and macroscopic properties of cement-based materials helps to design more efficient and stable cementitious materials for construction. Cement-based materials are multi-phase and multi-scale structures, and each component has a different degree of influence on the overall mechanical and physical properties. This Special Issue focuses on, but is not limited to, the mechanism of physicochemical effects on the cracking and toughening properties of cement-based materials in macroscopic scale, such as gelling components, aggregates, admixtures, fibers, water-binder ratio, curing system and environmental effect; the effects of micrometer scale reinforcement materials such as microbeads, whiskers and osmotic crystals on the filling, bridging, bonding and osmotic crystallization in cement-based materials system; the enhancing effect and mechanism of nano-scale reinforcement materials, such as nano-SiO₂, nano-CaCO₃, graphene, carbon nanotubes, micro-organisms, nano-polymers, etc., on the microstructure of hydration products, growth mode and pore structure of hardened paste; the conjugate toughening effects of cross-scale components such as “carbon fiber + carbon nanotubes” and “fiber + whisker + graphene” on different scales of cement-based materials.

It is my pleasure to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue “Reaction Mechanism and Properties of Cement-Based Materials”. Full papers, communications, discussions, and reviews related to the current research, application and development of strengthening, toughening and durability enhancement components of different scales of cement-based materials, reaction mechanism and properties of various cementitious materials including Portland cement, aluminate cement, sulfate aluminum cement, ferroaluminate cement, phosphate cement are welcomed.

Dr. Weiting Xu
Guest Editor

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