Microstructural control and hydration of novel micro-dendritic clinkers with CaO/SiO2Â =Â 1.4

In this paper we describe the production of CaO/SiO2-based hydraulic binders formed of dendritic belite embedded in an amorphous phase. These hydraulic binders are produced by a process involving heating the raw materials with a specified CaO/SiO2 ratio to a temperature bellow the liquidus surface, followed by a two-step cooling ramp, in order to obtain during solidification a dendritic morphology of the crystalline phase. After milling the clinker obtained by this process, and by adding up to 25% of water, the paste sets showing mechanical resistances that went up to 4 times higher the values obtained for a reference round shape belite clinker. This result opens the possibility of developing a novel belite-based clinker, that may lead to a relevant reduction of the CO2 emissions, as compared to common alitic clinkers.