The Atomic-Level Structure of Cementitious Calcium Aluminate Silicate Hydrate Determined by NMR

We review our recent paper which resolves the long-standing dilemma of the location and nature of the six-fold coordinated aluminum in calcium aluminate silicate hydrate (C-A-S-H) samples. First principles calculations predict that at high Ca:Si and H₂O ratios, aluminum is incorporated into the bridging sites of the linear silicate chains and that the stable coordination number is six. We confirm this hypothesis experimentally by one- and two-dimensional dynamic nuclear polarization enhanced 27 Al and 29 Si solid-state NMR experiments in which we correlate the distinctive six-fold coordinated aluminum NMR signal at 5 ppm to 29 Si NMR signals from silicates in C-A-S-H.