Carbonation

The initial work was carried out at the Conservation Institute by Koenraad van Balen as a Conservation Guest Scholar and published as "Carbonation Reaction of Lime, Kinetics at Ambient Temperature," Cement and Concrete Research, 34 (2004).

At the Conservation Institute, the composition of natural hydraulic limes was characterized by XRD and TGA to identify important differences in the materials. A grant was obtained by the Department of Engineering at Catholic University, Leuven to study the competition between carbonation and hydration of calcium hydroxide and calcium silicate binders. Different types of hydraulic lime binders and mortar samples were subjected to different curing conditions that influence the carbonation and hydration processes. Curing conditions favoring one of the processes can impede optimum bonding of the mortar resulting in a reduction of its durability. Research on lime-based hydraulic mortars and grouts revealed that the bond strength can also diminish, even after 90 or more days of hardening.

This research profited from the existing collaboration at Leuven between the Engineering department and the research group of physical-chemical geology. The combined expertise contributed to understanding of material properties from the engineering to the microstructural scale and strengthens the ongoing research and expertise on the study of hydration and carbonation of mineral binders (with or without organic binders).