Developing the binders required “a lot of chemistry,” says Savary. He first had to figure out how to reverse engineer portland cement, which he did while getting his doctorate at the Massachusetts ...

Cement chemistry centres on the hydration of clinker minerals—primarily tricalcium silicate (C3S), dicalcium silicate (C2S), tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and ferrite phases—when mixed with water. The ...

Building upon the chemistry that oysters use in miles-long reefs, scientists have found a way to create cement that is stronger and cures faster. Jonathan Wilker, a professor of chemistry in Purdue ...

There is movement in concrete. Like other building materials, the unglamorous-if-ubiquitous slabs of cemented stone, slag, and sand constantly expand and contract in reaction to temperature and ...

The concrete world that surrounds us owes its shape and durability to chemical reactions that start when ordinary Portland cement is mixed with water. Now, MIT scientists have demonstrated a way to ...

The work draws from a natural system that has functioned for hundreds of millions of years. Purdue says the patent-pending ...

With the right chemistry, cement can take on some of the properties of a metal, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Chris Benmore, a physicist at Argonne ...

If you find yourself at this moment in a city of any size, take a look out the window. Most of what you see is made with a single material, one that dominates our world: concrete. It makes up the bulk ...

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge. Cement is so common it’s nearly invisible. But the material that’s used to construct ...

Former Northwestern University professor Hamlin M. Jennings passed away on July 8 at age 68 after a long battle with cancer. He will be remembered as a dedicated educator, generous mentor, visionary, ...