Publications related to Atomistic Simulations of Silicate Species Interaction with Portlandite Surfaces

The molecular scale mechanism of deposition ice nucleation on silver iodide

Mária Lbadaoui-Darvas, Athanasios Nenes, André Welti

Heterogeneous ice nucleation is a ubiquitous process in the natural and built environment. Deposition ice nucleation, i.e. heterogeneous ice nucleation that - according to the traditional view - occurs in a subsaturated water vapor environment and in the a ...

Royal Soc Chemistry2024

Contradict mechanism of long-term magnesium and sodium sulfate attacks of nano silica-modified cement mortars - Experimental and thermodynamic modeling

Qiao Wang

The mechanisms of external sulfate attack on cement mortars containing nano silica have been studied under full immersion conditions after 3 years. The sulfate degradation processes were compared between sodium sulfate and magnesium sulfate solutions with ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2024

Probing Catalytic Sites and Adsorbate Spillover on Ultrathin FeO2-x Film on Ir(111) during CO Oxidation

Harald Brune, Hao Yin, Wei Fang

The spatially resolved identification of active sites on the heterogeneous catalyst surface is an essential step toward directly visualizing a catalytic reaction with atomic scale. To date, ferrous centers on platinum group metals have shown promising pote ...

Amer Chemical Soc2024

Decarbonization potential of steel fibre-reinforced limestone calcined clay cement concrete one-way slabs

Hisham Tarek Mohamed Hafez

This study deals with a comparison of the environmental performance of one-way slabs utilizing steel fibrereinforced limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) concrete with the control case of Ordinary Portland cement concrete. The experimental program constitu ...

Elsevier Sci Ltd2024

Co-Adsorption of Alcohols and Water in JUK-8 Studied Using Quasi-Equilibrated Thermodesorption

Pattaraphon Rodlamul

JUK-8 ([Zn(oba)(pip)]n, oba2- = 4,4 '-oxybis(benzenedicarboxylate), pip = 4-pyridyl-functionalized benzene-1,3-dicarbohydrazide) is a hydrolytically stable flexible metal-organic framework. Owing to its unusual adsorptive properties, JUK-8 can be considere ...

MDPI2024

Adsorption of Copper by Naturally and Artificially Aged Polystyrene Microplastics and Subsequent Release in Simulated Gastrointestinal Fluid

Florian Frédéric Vincent Breider, Thibault Béranger Masset, Lu Zhou

Microplastics, especially aged microplastics can become vectors of metals from environment to organisms with potential negative effects on food chain. However, a few studies focused on the bioavailability of adsorbed metals and most studies related to aged ...

2024

Soft Mechanochemistry of Disulfide-Crosslinked Polymer Networks

Zhao Meng

Mechanochemistry harnesses mechanical force to facilitate chemical reactions. Traditionally, the field of polymer mechanochemistry has used methods to activate chemical bonds, which use forces that are larger than those that are required to break a covalen ...

EPFL2024

Atomic-Level and Surface Structure of Calcium Silicate Hydrate Nanofoils

Paul Bowen, Karen Scrivener, Aslam Kunhi Mohamed, Ziga Casar

Deciphering the calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) surface is crucial for unraveling the mechanisms of cement hydration and property development. Experimental observations of C-S-H in cement systems suggest a surface termination which is fundamentally differ ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

The role of Zn in C-S-H atomic structure, nucleation and growth

Anna Morales Melgares

The most promising solution towards cementitious materials with a lower carbon footprint is the partial substitution of the clinker by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash, blast furnace slag, limestone and calcined clays. The produc ...

EPFL2023

Influence of temperature on phase assemblages of belite-ye'elimite cement

Karen Scrivener, Barbara Lothenbach, Natechanok Chitvoranund, Diana Londoño Zuluaga

This paper studies the effect of temperature on the phase assemblages of belite-ye'elimite cement. A comparison is made between thermodynamic modelling and experimental data at 28 and 180 days of hydration at 5, 20, 40, and 60 degrees C. The fast reaction ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Atomistic modeling of C-S-H: bulk and surface

Ziga Casar

By replacing part of Portland cement with so-called supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) it is possible to reduce the CO2 footprint of the cement industry. These SCMs are commonly limestone, calcined clay, slag and fly ash. While doing so the early ...

EPFL2023

Going Below 50% Clinker Factor in Limestone Calcined Clay Cements (LC3): A Comparison with Pozzolanic Cements from the South American Market

Karen Scrivener, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva

Limestone calcined clays are a promising technology as they offer similar performance to OPC from 7 days onwards, while enabling a reduction of the clinker content of 50%. In some regions of the world like South America, pozzolanic cements (i.e., blended c ...

SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG2023

Unidirectional penetration approach for characterizing sulfate attack mechanisms on cement mortars and pastes

Karen Scrivener, Qiao Wang, William Wilson

Degradation of cementitious materials by sulfate ions is commonly classified into chemical and physical sulfate attack. So-called "physical" attack dominates in many field situations, but laboratory testing focuses on "chemical" attack under full-immersion ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

Architecturally Diverse Polymer Brushes Prepared via Surface-Initiated Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization

Sabrina Sant

Polymer brushes, which are polymers anchored to a solid substrate by one chainend, have the ability to modify the properties of an underlying substrate, offering intriguing features such as enhanced lubrication, reduced friction, colloidal stability, and a ...

EPFL2023

Bottlebrush Dielectric Elastomers with Improved Properties for Actuation

Yeerlan Adeli

Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) are elastic capacitors composed of a pair of compliant electrodes and a soft dielectric elastomer film sandwiched in between. This kind of stretchable capacitors can be actuated when charged, can generate electricity fr ...

EPFL2023

Gas/Surface reactions probed by reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy

Harmina Vejayan

In my thesis, I present an investigation of the dissociation reactions of gas phase molecules on single crystal metal surfaces studied by a molecular beam in combination with Reflection Absorption Infrared Spectroscopy (RAIRS). Two gas/surface systems were ...

EPFL2023

Understanding the role of surface oxygen-containing functional groups on carbon-supported cobalt catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

Thi Ha My Pham, Andreas Züttel, Youngdon Ko, Kangning Zhao, Liping Zhong, Manhui Wei

Supported Co-based catalysts exhibit promising catalytic activities in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) during alkaline water electrolysis. Surface functionalization of the support modulates the dispersion of the catalysts and their interaction with the ...

Royal Society of Chemistry2023

Durability Challenges of Low-Grade Calcined Clay Opposed to High-Volume Fly Ash in General Purpose Concrete

Karen Scrivener, Matea Flegar

With the decrease in availability of common supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) such as fly ash in Europe, the search for appropriate SCMs should be dealt with locally. A com-bination of abundant low-grade calcined clay and limestone powder has pro ...

AMER SOC TESTING MATERIALS2023

Influence of Low- to Medium-Kaolinite Clay on the Durability of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) Concrete

Karen Scrivener, Matea Flegar

The kaolinite content is principally responsible for the durability performance of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3), which calls into question its global applicability. The clay supply has a significant impact on the LC3 system's reduced carbon footpri ...

MDPI2023

Characterisation and hydration kinetics of beta-C2S synthesised with K2SO4 as dopant

Karen Scrivener, Shashank Bishnoi, Franco Alberto Zunino Sommariva, Sreejith Krishnan

In this study, a protocol for synthesising beta-C2S using K2SO4 as a dopant has been reported. Quantitative X-Ray diffraction was used to characterise synthesised samples. It was observed that it is possible to synthesise beta-C2S with high purity (>96 wt% ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023