Binder chemistry - High-calcium alkali-activated materials

As mentioned in Chap. 2, the development and assessment of alkali-activated binders based on calcium-rich precursors such as blast furnace slag (BFS) and other Ca-rich industrial by-products have been conducted for over a century [1–3]. However, an increase in interest in the understanding of the microstructure of alkali-activated binders has taken place in the past decades. This has been driven by the need for scientific methods to optimise the activation conditions which give a strong, stable binder from a particular raw material, and consequently a high-performance alkali-activated material (AAM) concrete, while achieving acceptable workability and a low environmental footprint. A detailed scientific understanding of the structure of these materials is required to generate the technical underpinnings for standards which will facilitate their wider commercial adoption [4, 5].