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Sulfate resistance of Portland dolomite cement: performance and mechanisms

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Abstract

This study investigated the sulfate resistance of Portland-dolomite cement (PDC) cured at different temperatures. Mortars of Portland cement (PC) and PDC with different dosages of dolomite, 10, 20, 30% by weight, were cured in water at 20 °C and 60 °C for 28 days before immersed in 50 g/L Na2SO4 solution at 20 °C. In addition to monitoring the length changes of mortars, MIP and XRD were performed to investigate microstructure and evolution of phase assemblages. Results show that PDC mortars cured at 20 °C give a poorer sulfate resistance than PC, and the higher the dosage of dolomite, the worse the sulfate resistance. On the contrary, when cured at 60 °C, PDC gives a much better sulfate resistance than PC, and the higher the dosage of dolomite, the better the sulfate resistance. The increases of critical pore size and porosity with the incorporation of dolomite lead to a poor sulfate resistance of PDC cured at 20 °C. However, for PDC cured at 60 °C, it is not the pore structure but the lack of available aluminate caused by the formation of hydrotalcite contributes to its sound sulfate resistance. The higher the dosage of dolomite from 10 to 30%, the larger amounts of hydrotalcite formation and the better the sulfate resistance. Hydrotalcite is stable in the presence of sulfate.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (51472116) and the Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, No. 30 Puzhu Road(S), Nanjing, 210009, China

    Ji Lu, Aiwen Xu, Jiangtao Xu, Duyou Lu & Zhongzi Xu

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  1. Ji Lu
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Correspondence to Duyou Lu or Zhongzi Xu.

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The authors declared that they have no conflict of interest in the submission of this manuscript, and manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. I would like to declare on behalf of my co-authors that the work described was original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. All the authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed.

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Lu, J., Xu, A., Xu, J. et al. Sulfate resistance of Portland dolomite cement: performance and mechanisms. Mater Struct 53, 125 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-020-01557-x

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