Investigation of the structural properties of magnesium silicate hydrate cements and assessment of strategies for their development

During my PhD I focused my work on the investigation of MgO/SiO2 cements. In the last decades, research on cement formulations alternative to traditional Portland cement has progressively grown, both with the aim of reducing the environmental impact due to the CO2 emissions associated with its production and in view of solving specific needs in particular fields of application. Formulations based on reactive periclase (MgO) and silica (SiO2) in the presence of water hydrate and form a binder phase, M-S-H (magnesium silicate hydrate), analogue to calcium silicate hydrate, C-S-H, present in traditional cements. In spite of its potential importance, there is still little knowledge about its structural features and formulation design. I focused my PhD on this class of cement, aiming to extent the knowledge on this material, which could pave the way for tailoring its macroscopic properties by means of a bottom-up approach, and a multi-technique approach has been used to accomplish this purpose.