Abstract

The aim of the current study is to investigate the carbonation behavior of cement hydrates at different environments. Hardened cement pastes are prepared using OPC and BFS and crushed into ~90μm powder. The powder samples are carbonated at 5/20% CO2 and at 60/85%RH. TGA, XRD and phenolphthalein tests are conducted before and after carbonation. The results show that CH remain uncarbonated even after CO2 uptake apparently ended and that the amount of the residual CH affects the results of phenolphthalein test. External humidity strongly affects the carbonation behavior of both CH and other hydrates. The degree of CH carbonation is greater at higher humidity, while the degree of other hydrates carbonation is greater at lower humidity. This conflicting effect can occur at surface of bulk concretes and changes in its properties (coarsening of pore structure and cracking) can be caused without apparent carbonation detected by phenol phthalein test. The effect of relative humidity on CSH carbonation should be taken into consideration when estimating long-term performance of carbonated concretes.