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Characterization and Optimization of Cement-Based Materials

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 May 2025 | Viewed by 526

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja, IETcc-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
Interests: cement; concrete; sustainability; rheology; radiology; SCMs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, the scientific community is clearly committed to the development of new and more sustainable cements, mortars and concretes, often based on new processes, using industrial waste and applying circular economy criteria.

The prior characterization of new materials that can be incorporated into construction materials is a fundamental step in the development of green cements and concretes. Likewise, the characterization of the final products, their physico-mechanical and rheological properties and the development of their microstructure allow us to know the real viability of these new products. Thanks to this, not only does science progress in fundamental knowledge, but it also allows us to improve processes and obtain new ‘greener’ construction materials with advanced functionalities.

I sincerely encourage you all to send your work and research to this Special Issue with the purpose of sharing our knowledge, so that we can all learn and advance the knowledge and development of cementitious materials with better performance without forgetting to be increasingly respectful of the environment.

Dr. María del Mar Alonso López
Guest Editor

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.

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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

  • cement
  • concrete
  • characterization techniques
  • properties
  • microstructure

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 5421 KiB  
Article
Prediction Models for Radiological Characterization of Natural Aggregates Based on Chemical Composition and Mineralogy
by Andrés Caño, María del Mar Alonso, Alicia Pachón-Montaño, Queralt Marzal, Guillermo Hernáiz, Luís Sousa and José Antonio Suárez-Navarro
Materials 2025, 18(6), 1369; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18061369 - 20 Mar 2025
Viewed by 285
Abstract
The radiological characterization of aggregates used in construction materials is essential to determine their suitability from a radiological protection perspective and to ensure their safety for health and the environment. While the activity concentrations of radionuclides present in construction materials are typically determined [...] Read more.
The radiological characterization of aggregates used in construction materials is essential to determine their suitability from a radiological protection perspective and to ensure their safety for health and the environment. While the activity concentrations of radionuclides present in construction materials are typically determined using gamma spectrometry, an alternative approach involves the development of statistical methods and predictive models derived from the chemical composition of the material. A total of 39 aggregates used in construction of various types (siliceous, carbonatic, volcanic, and granitic) have been analyzed, correlating their chemical compositions obtained through X-ray fluorescence (XRF) with the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides measured via gamma spectrometry using principal component analysis (PCA). The results obtained allowed for the observation of an inversely proportional relationship between the chemical composition of the grouping of siliceous and carbonatic aggregates and the content of radionuclides. However, the set of granitic aggregates showed a strong correlation with the natural radioactive series of uranium, thorium, and 40K. Conversely, the radionuclide content of volcanic aggregates was independent of their chemical composition. The results obtained from the PCA facilitated the development of different models using multiple regression analysis. The chemical parameters obtained in the proposed models were related to the typical mineralogy in each grouping, ranging from primary minerals such as feldspars to accessory minerals such as anatase, apatite, and pyrolusite. Finally, the models were validated using independent samples from those used to determine the models, achieving RSD (%) values ≤ 30% in 50% of the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th(212Pb), and 40K, as well as the estimated ACI. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Optimization of Cement-Based Materials)
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