Analysis of the Dynamics of Water Confined in Hydrated Calcium Silica(c-S-h) Based on the Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering Spectra

Cement is a widely used construction material in the world. Calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) is the main component of aged cement (concrete). The quality and durability of concrete are strongly affected by the dynamics of water confined in it. Dynamics of the confined water can be studied experimentally by the quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS). In this paper, the jump-diffusion and rotation-diffusion model (JRM) is used to fit the QENS spectra of C-S-H paste samples at different measured temperatures for the whole scattering vector Q-range from 0.3 to 1.7 -1. Five important parameters are extracted to describe the dynamics of water confined in C-S-H samples: the index of immobile water C, the rotational diffusion constant Dr, the mean square displacement (MSD) u2 , the self-diffusion coefficient Dt, and the average residence time between jumps 0. Here, all the C-S-H samples, each with a 30% weight ratio of water to cement, are measured at temperatures ranging from 230 to 280 K. The fitted parameters can quantitatively describe the dynamics of water confined on different scales of C-S-H gel pores. The results show that the QENS spectra are fitted very well not only for small Q (Q 1 -1) but also for large Q (Q 1 -1). The obtained rotational diffusion constant is Q dependent. Thus the contribution of the water molecule rotation to a QENS spectrum increases with the value of Q increasing. The mean square displacement (MSD) u2 decreases with the increase of Q, which can be used to distinguish the confined water, ultra-confined water, and bound water contained in C-S-H samples. When Q is small, the fitted Dt and 0 vary with the measured temperature. Dt has a maximum value at 230 K and 0 has a peak at 240 K. These indicate that the dynamics of the confined water shows different behaviors at 230 K and 240 K. There are crossover or critical phenomena for water confined in C-S-H sample at low temperature.