Processing and characterisation of standard and doped alite-belite-ye'elimite ecocement pastes and mortars

Here, we report the processing optimisation of two laboratory-prepared alite-belite-ye'elimite ecocements (standard and doped) that release to the atmosphere similar to 13% less CO2 than Portland Cement during fabrication. The processing was optimised through rheological measurements, where homogeneous pastes and mortars were finally prepared through the study and optimisation of both the superplasticiser content and the water-to-cement ratio. Both parameters were correlated with the phase assembly of selected pastes and compressive strength of the corresponding mortars. After optimisation, mortars with high compressive strengths (similar to 72 and similar to 77 MPa for the standard mortar, and similar to 41 and similar to 75 MPa for the doped one, at 7 and 28 days, respectively) were prepared. Furthermore, the important increase in compressive strength from 7 to 28 days of the optimised mortar prepared from the doped ecocement is due to its composition (the higher content of belite jointly with the reaction of its active polymorph (alpha'(H)-belite)).