The di- and tricalcium silicate dissolutions

In this study, a specially designed reactor connected to an ICP spectrometer enabled the careful determination of the dissolution rates of C3S, C2S and CaO, respectively, over a broad range of concentration of calcium and silicates under conditions devoid of C–S–H. The kinetic laws, bridging the dissolution rates and the undersaturations, were obtained after extrapolation of rate zero allowing the estimation of the true experimental solubility products of C3S (Ksp = 9.6 · 10− 23), C2S (Ksp = 4.3 · 10− 18) and CaO (Ksp = 9.17 · 10− 6). The latter are then compared to the solubilities calculated from the enthalpies of formation. We propose that the observed deviations result from the protonation of the unsaturated oxygen atoms present at the surface of these minerals. Hydration rates measured in cement pastes or in C3S pastes are in excellent agreement with the kinetic law found in this study for C3S under conditions undersaturated with respect to C–S–H.