Rate-limiting reaction of C3S hydration - A reply to the discussion “A new view on the kinetics of tricalcium silicate hydration” by E. Gartner

In the case of coupled solids-solution reactions, any mean accelerating or decelerating one of the reaction, will also change the other reaction(s) in the same way, through the coupling mediated by the solution. The observation of any kinetic change by one of these means should not lead to too rapid conclusion on the limitation of kinetics and it must be done with great caution. Contrary to what Gartner mentioned, the acceleration of C3S hydration by the addition of calcium silicate hydrate seeds, is not a trivial evidence suggesting that hydration kinetics “has to be” limited by the C-S-H precipitation and that the C3S dissolution can be neglected. In our paper, efforts have been made to highlight again the importance of C3S dissolution, based on the Gartner's discussion points.