ERICA — Engineered Calcium-Silicate-Hydrates for Applications

Results in brief

Engineered Calcium-Silicate-Hydrates for Applications

Inorganic hydrates such as calcium-silicate-hydrate, calcium-alumino-silicate-hydrate (C-A-S-H) and magnesium-silicate-hydrate (M-S-H) are materials that can be produced in almost any shape or form, cheaply and in large quantities right across the world from local and sustainable resources. C-S-H is the “glue” of cement, itself the glue of concrete and, although this is by far the greatest application in terms of economic impact and volume (3.6 giga-tonnes of cement each year globally), there are many others. Hydrates have uses in paper, polymer composites, dentistry, waste water treatment, agriculture and nuclear waste encapsulation. At project outset, little was known about how to engineer these hydrates for specific applications, e.g. construction requires use of locally available raw materials, decent strength after one day and low CO2 impact, while dentistry requires biocompatibility, “setting” within minutes and strength build-up within a few hours. There was no accepted understanding of: how hydrates grow and hence how to control growth; hydrate structure at the nano-scale; the changes in structure after drying and re-wetting; how water and deleterious small ions move into hydrates. ERICA’s technical objectives were hence to: discover how C-S-H nucleates and grows; show that C-S-H can be engineered at the nano-scale; evidence what happens at the nanoscale during the first and subsequent water sorption cycles; elucidate how this impacts water and small ion transport in agglomerates of hydrates; validate improved materials and production methods for real-world applications; An equally important objective was to recruit and train a new generation of materials researchers fluent in these emergent technologies who could enter the industries that make and use these materials and carry forward the know-how.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

ERICA stands for engineered calcium-silicate-hydrates for applications. Inorganic hydrates, such as C-S-H, are used in applications from construction to dentistry. In every case, there is need to optimise the hydrate properties for the application. More reactive cements are needed to lower the CO2 impact of construction. Dentistry needs improved mechanical stability. The traditional way to improve hydrates is by trial and error. This is ineffective. ERICA offers a transformative materials science approach based on gaining detailed understanding the associated nanoscience. ERICA seeks coherent understanding and control of hydrate nucleation and growth as a means to control properties; of the first water sorption cycle when hydrates undergo structural change the consequences of which for performance are only just becoming apparent; and of water transport in hydrates that severely impacts degradation. To do this ERICA exploits recent developments in understanding of hydrate chemistry, in 1H NMR relaxometry and in numerical modeling. Success with ERICA will (i) give industry ways to target design hydrates; (ii) create numerical software tools to model hydrate performance; and (iii) leave good practice and know-how to adopt emergent methods. ERICA trains 13 multi-disciplinary researchers: ESRs ready to find employment with cement product manufacturers, instrumentation manufacturers, in numerical modeling and in academia. This cohort is much needed by industry. The ESRs receive comprehensive academic and transferable skills training comprised of residential schools, workshops, peer learning and industry secondments. Training and dissemination are delivered in collaboration with the industry-academic cement science network: NANOCEM. Courses will be made into MOOCs. ERICA is led by 4 universities and an international cement manufacturer. It is supported by 5 Partner companies.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY · GuildfordCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA · BolognaItaly
CHRYSO · Issy-Les-Moulineaux CedexFrance
ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE · LausanneSwitzerland
HEIDELBERG MATERIALS AG · HeidelbergGermany
LITHICON NORWAY AS · TrondheimNorway
MR Solutions Ltd. · GuildfordUnited Kingdom
SAINT GOBAIN RECHERCHE · AubervilliersFrance
SEPTODONT SAS · Saint Maur Des FossesFrance
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN · WienAustria

ERICA · Engineered Calcium-Silicate-Hydrates for Applications

Results in brief

Engineered Calcium-Silicate-Hydrates for Applications

Project objective

Participants

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