Hydration in diluted solutions of brownmillerite extracted from SR cement and synthetic brownmillerite

The aim of this study is to investigate the reactivity of ferrites extracted from Sulfate Resisting (SR) Portland cement clinkers, until now often neglected. Industrial materials and synthetic materials have been studied and compared in the whole range of the Al/Fe ratio. Highly diluted aqueous suspensions were used, ranging between pure water and more complex solutions simulating the pore solution in cement. Conductimetry was combined with ICP. The reactivity of ferrite depends on the environment and the aluminum content of ferrite. The reactivity of ferrites extracted from industrial SR0 and SR3 clinkers (C₃A = 0 wt% and C₃A ≤ 3 wt% respectively) can be distinguished from one another. Additionally, industrial ferrite was found to be more reactive than synthetic ferrite. The iron content of katoite and ettringite was investigated using XRD. It depends on the Al/Fe ratio of ferrite and the presence of calcium hydroxide in the solution.