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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Synchrotron X-ray Microdiffraction and Fluorescence Imaging of Mineral and Rock Samples
Published on: June 19, 2018
Quantitative X-ray pair distribution function analysis of nanocrystalline calcium silicate hydrates: a contribution
Sylvain Grangeon1, Alejandro Fernandez-Martinez2, Alain Baronnet3
1D3E/SVP, BRGM (French Geological Survey) , 3 Avenue Claude Guillemin, Orléans, 45060, France.
Abstract:
The structural evolution of nanocrystalline calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) as a function of its calcium to silicon (Ca/Si) ratio has been probed using qualitative and quantitative X-ray atomic pair distribution function analysis of synchrotron X-ray scattering data. Whatever the Ca/Si ratio, the C-S-H structure is similar to that of tobermorite. When the Ca/Si ratio increases from ∼0.6 to ∼1.2, Si wollastonite-like chains progressively depolymerize through preferential omission of Si bridging tetrahedra. When the Ca/Si ratio approaches ∼1.5, nanosheets of portlandite are detected in samples aged for 1 d, while microcrystalline portlandite is detected in samples aged for 1 year. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging shows that the tobermorite-like structure is maintained to Ca/Si > 3.
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