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Advances in Hydration, Microstructure, and Properties of Modern Cement and Concrete Composites

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction and Building Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 1979

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xin Liu

E-Mail
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Engineering Materials for Major Infrastructure, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Construction Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China
Interests: cement chemistry; microstructure; calcium silicate hydrate; shotcrete; cement-based functional materials
Dr. Mingqi Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China
Interests: cement hydration; particle-packing model; defect percolation and tortuosity; fiber-reinforced concrete

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Modern cement and concrete composites have evolved significantly in recent decades, driven by the urgent need for sustainable, durable, and high-performance construction materials. The complexity of these materials has increased dramatically due to the incorporation of diverse components such as chemical admixtures, mineral additives, and novel supplementary cementitious materials. These advancements have not only enhanced material performance but also introduced new challenges in understanding their hydration kinetics, microstructural evolution, and multi-scale structure–property relationships.

This Special Issue aims to highlight cutting-edge research focused on the fundamental mechanisms governing the hydration processes, microstructural development, and engineering properties of modern cementitious systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Multi-component interactions: Effects of chemical admixtures, nanomaterials, and mineral additives on hydration kinetics and phase assemblages.
  • Microstructural characterization: Advanced experimental techniques for probing multi-scale microstructural features.
  • Property enhancement: Solutions and mechanisms for property enhancement of cementitious materials (mechanical strength, durability, shrinkage, rheology, etc.).
  • Modern design and simulation approaches: Designing of novel cement and concrete composites and computational modeling (e.g., phase-field, molecular dynamics, and machine learning) for predicting hydration behavior, microstructure formation, and performance optimization.
  • Sustainability-driven innovations: Strategies for reducing carbon footprint, including low-clinker cements, alkali-activated systems, and carbon-capture technologies.

This Special Issue will provide a platform to disseminate foundational research that informs professionals on the topics of rational design, processing, and application of next-generation cement and concrete composites. We warmly welcome your contributions to advance the scientific understanding of modern cement-based materials.

Dr. Xin Liu
Dr. Mingqi Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hydration
  • microstructure
  • properties
  • modellings
  • material design
  • low carbon
  • modern cement and concrete

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 4072 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation of Mechanical Properties and Microstructure in Cement–Soil Modified with Waste Brick Powder and Polyvinyl Alcohol Fibers
by Xiaosan Yin, Md. Mashiur Rahman, Hongke Pan, Yongchun Ma, Yuzhou Sun and Jian Wang
Materials 2025, 18(15), 3586; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153586 - 30 Jul 2025
Viewed by 300
Abstract
This study investigates the synergistic modification of cement–soil using waste brick powder (WBP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers to address the growing demand for sustainable construction materials and recycling of demolition waste. An orthogonal experimental design was employed with 5% WBP (by mass) [...] Read more.
This study investigates the synergistic modification of cement–soil using waste brick powder (WBP) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers to address the growing demand for sustainable construction materials and recycling of demolition waste. An orthogonal experimental design was employed with 5% WBP (by mass) and PVA fiber content (0–1%), evaluating mechanical properties based on unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and splitting tensile strength (STS) and microstructure via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) across 3–28 days of curing. The results demonstrate that 0.75% PVA optimizes performance, enhancing UCS by 28.3% (6.87 MPa) and STS by 34.6% (0.93 MPa) at 28 days compared to unmodified cement–soil. SEM analysis revealed that PVA fibers bridged microcracks, suppressing propagation, while WBP triggered pozzolanic reactions to densify the matrix. This dual mechanism concurrently improves mechanical durability and valorizes construction waste, offering a pathway to reduce reliance on virgin materials. This study establishes empirically validated mix ratios for eco-efficient cement–soil composites, advancing scalable solutions for low-carbon geotechnical applications. By aligning material innovation with circular economy principles, this work directly supports global de-carbonization targets in the construction sector. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydration, Microstructure, and Properties of Modern Cement and Concrete Composites)
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22 pages, 19198 KiB  
Article
Optimal Design and Application of Universal Cementitious Material Prepared Using Full Industrial Solid Wastes
by Zilu Xie, Zengzhen Qian, Xianlong Lu, Bing Yue, Wendi Su and Mengze Tian
Materials 2025, 18(15), 3485; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153485 - 25 Jul 2025
Viewed by 241
Abstract
This study developed a full solid waste-based cementitious material (ISWs-CM) using steel slag (SS), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), phosphorus slag (PS), carbide slag (CS), and desulfurized gypsum (DG) to completely replace cement. A two-layer optimization strategy, combining three chemical moduli and [...] Read more.
This study developed a full solid waste-based cementitious material (ISWs-CM) using steel slag (SS), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS), phosphorus slag (PS), carbide slag (CS), and desulfurized gypsum (DG) to completely replace cement. A two-layer optimization strategy, combining three chemical moduli and simplex lattice experiments, was employed to determine the proportion and to investigate the impact of proportions on the uniaxial compressive strength of mortar. As an application case, the ISWs-CM with the optimal proportion was employed to stabilize aeolian sand, and its effectiveness as a cement substitute and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. The results indicated that the ISW proportion that maximized the strength of the mortar was SS:GGBFS:PS:CS = 5:20:20:40. The strength of the mortar was enhanced when the proportion of GGBFS exhibiting the highest reactivity was increased and also increased initially and then decreased with an increase in CS when the dosage of GGBFS was fixed. The aeolian sand stabilized by ISW-CM exhibited higher strength than that stabilized with cement. The greater number and variety of hydration products resulted in denser connections and encapsulation of sand particles, which highlights the synergistic effect of ISWs and the potential of ISW-CM as a cement replacement across diverse applications including aeolian sand stabilization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydration, Microstructure, and Properties of Modern Cement and Concrete Composites)
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22 pages, 16538 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study on Interface Bonding Performance of Frost-Damaged Concrete Reinforced with Yellow River Sedimentary Sand Engineered Cementitious Composites
by Binglin Tan, Ali Raza, Ge Zhang and Chengfang Yuan
Materials 2025, 18(14), 3278; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18143278 - 11 Jul 2025
Viewed by 380
Abstract
Freeze–thaw damage is a critical durability challenge in cold climates that leads to surface spalling, cracking, and degradation of structural performance. In northern China, the severity of winter conditions further accelerates the degradation of concrete infrastructure. This study investigates the reinforcement of frost-damaged [...] Read more.
Freeze–thaw damage is a critical durability challenge in cold climates that leads to surface spalling, cracking, and degradation of structural performance. In northern China, the severity of winter conditions further accelerates the degradation of concrete infrastructure. This study investigates the reinforcement of frost-damaged concrete using engineered cementitious composites (ECC) prepared with Yellow River sedimentary sand (YRS), employed as a 100% mass replacement for quartz sand to promote sustainability. The interface bonding performance of ECC-C40 specimens was evaluated by testing the impact of various surface roughness treatments, freeze–thaw cycles, and interface agents. A multi-factor predictive formula for determining interface bonding strength was created, and the bonding mechanism and model were examined through microscopic analysis. The results show that ECC made with YRS significantly improved the interface bonding performance of ECC-C40 specimens. Specimens treated with a cement expansion slurry as the interface agent and those subjected to the splitting method for surface roughness achieves the optimal reinforced condition, exhibited a 27.57%, 35.17%, 43.57%, and 42.92% increase in bonding strength compared to untreated specimens under 0, 50, 100, and 150 cycles, respectively. Microscopic analysis revealed a denser interfacial microstructure. Without an interface agent, the bond interface followed a dual-layer, three-zone model; with the interface agent, a three-layer, three-zone model was observed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydration, Microstructure, and Properties of Modern Cement and Concrete Composites)
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26 pages, 30904 KiB  
Article
Study on the Alkali-Activated Mechanism of Yellow River Sediment-Based Ecological Cementitious Materials
by Ge Zhang, Enhui Jiang, Kunpeng Li, Huawei Shi, Chen Chen and Chengfang Yuan
Materials 2025, 18(7), 1559; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18071559 - 29 Mar 2025
Viewed by 477
Abstract
As one of the key components in geopolymer systems, the activator significantly influences the properties of cementitious materials. This study investigates the effects of key activator parameters, specifically alkali equivalent and activator modulus, on the setting time, workability, hydration characteristics, compressive strength, and [...] Read more.
As one of the key components in geopolymer systems, the activator significantly influences the properties of cementitious materials. This study investigates the effects of key activator parameters, specifically alkali equivalent and activator modulus, on the setting time, workability, hydration characteristics, compressive strength, and splitting tensile strength of Yellow River sediment-based slag eco-friendly cementitious materials. Tests such as setting time, slump, flowability, hydration heat, and strength were conducted to evaluate these effects. Additionally, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) tests were conducted to investigate the mechanisms and variations in microstructural properties. The results indicate that the alkali equivalent and activator modulus significantly affect the setting time, workability, reaction process, and strength of Yellow River sediment-based eco-friendly cementitious materials. An excessively high or low alkali equivalent and activator modulus result in either insufficient or excessive activation, adversely affecting the densification process of the hardened matrix. When the alkali equivalent is 5% and the activator modulus is 1.2, the matrix demonstrates superior flowability, well-regulated and sustained heat evolution during hydration, and achieves compressive and splitting tensile strengths of 61.68 MPa and 4.37 MPa, respectively. Under optimal alkaline conditions, slag dissolution, hydrolysis of silicon–oxygen and aluminum–oxygen tetrahedra, and the formation of low-calcium calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) and calcium aluminum silicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) phases are effectively promoted, leading to the development of a wrinkled three-dimensional polymeric gel structure. This structure fills the matrix pores, optimizes the pore structure, and contributes to strength development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Hydration, Microstructure, and Properties of Modern Cement and Concrete Composites)
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