Silicate species of water glass and insights for alkali-activated green cement

Abstract

Despite that sodium silicate solutions of high pH are commonly used in industrial applications, most investigations are focused on low to medium values of pH. Therefore we have investigated such solutions in a broad modulus range and up to high pH values (∼14) by use of infrared (IR) spectroscopy and silicon nuclear magnetic resonance (29Si-NMR). The results show that the modulus dependent pH value leads to more or less charged species, which affects the configurations of the silicate units. This in turn, influences the alkali-activation process of low CO2 footprint cements, i.e. materials based on industrial waste or by-products.