Preparation of Tobermorite

This doctoral thesis is focused on the study of reactions in the CaO–SiO2–H2O complex system, primarily to the synthesis of crystalline tobermorite. Hydrothermal conditions are necessary for the formation of crystalline tobermorite, whereas the course of the reaction is influenced by several factors. The main studied factor was the choice of the silica sources differing in means of solubility, crystallinity, particle size distribution, specific surface area, and purity. The water-to-solid ratio turned to be also an important factor as the length of the hydrothermal reaction. The influence of the mechanochemical pretreatment of starting materials to the final phase composition of samples was studied as well. The obtained results show that the crystallinity of the silica source is the main factor influencing the reaction rate and the purity of the synthesized tobermorite. While using the crystalline silica source the shorter silicate chains are formed and the formation of tobermorite structure is easier. Using the amorphous silica sources and the mechanochemical pretreatement of starting materials prolong the hydrothermal reaction. The prepared samples are always the mixture of crystalline or semicrystalline calcium hydrosilicates instead of the phase pure tobermorite