Transition and Decomposition Temperatures of Cement Phases – a Collection of Thermal Analysis Data

Thermal analysis techniques provide the cement chemist with valuable tools to qualify and quantify the products formed during the hydration of cementitious materials. These techniques are commonly used alongside complimentary techniques such as X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy to confirm the composition of phases present and identify amorphous material unidentified by other techniques. The most common thermal analysis techniques used by cement chemists are thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. In order to provide a useful reference tool to the cement chemist, this paper provides a brief summary of the temperatures at which phase changes occur in the most common cement hydrates in the range 0-800 °C in order to aid phase identification.