Contents

Acknowledgments ix

0 Introduction – Characterization of MgO 1

Mark Alexander Shand, Fei Jin
0.1 Introduction 1
0.2 Important characteristics of MgO and test methods 2
0.3 Relationships among the most important properties of MgO 5
0.4 Categorization of MgO 6
References 9

Part One Existing magnesia cement technologies 11

1 Manufacture of magnesium oxide for magnesia cements 13

Mark Alexander Shand
1.1 Magnesium oxide produced from magnesite 13
1.2 Formation of macrocrystalline magnesite 15
1.3 Formation of cryptocrystalline magnesite 15
1.4 Magnesium oxide derived from brucite 15
1.5 Mining and processing of magnesite 16
1.6 Synthetic magnesia 18
1.7 Calcination of magnesium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide 22
1.8 Furnaces and kilns 24
References 28

2 Magnesium oxychloride cement 29

Fei Jin
2.1 Introduction 29
2.2 Phase composition and microstructure 30
2.3 Reaction mechanism and kinetics 35
2.4 Properties of MOC 38
2.5 Common degradation mechanisms for MOC and counter-measures 51
2.6 Applications of MOC 60
2.7 Conclusions and recommendations for future work 65
References 67

3 Magnesium oxysulfate cement 75

Mark Alexander Shand
3.1 Introduction 75
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3.2 Improvement in water resistance 77

3.3 Properties of magnesium oxysulfate cement 79
3.4 Magnesium oxysulfate uses 79
References 82

4 Magnesium phosphate cement 85

Jueshi Qian
4.1 Review on magnesium phosphate cements (MPCs) 85
4.2 Formulation of MPCs 88
4.3 Hydration and microstructure of MPCs 96
4.4 Properties of MPCs 114
4.5 Applications of MPCs 148
References 159

Part Two Emerging magnesia cement technologies 171

5 Magnesium silicate hydrate cements 173

Mark Alexander Shand
5.1 Introduction – types of silicate binders 173
5.2 Magnesium silicate hydrate cement 174
5.3 Conclusions 180
References 180

6 Carbonated magnesia cements 183

Abir Al-Tabbaa, Liwu Mo
6.1 Introduction 183
6.2 Carbonated magnesia cement in masonry blocks 185
6.3 Carbonated magnesia cement in ground improvement 193
6.4 Carbonated MgO binary and ternary cement systems 202
References 208

7 Magnesia in alkali activated cements 213

Fei Jin, Abir Al-Tabbaa
7.1 Introduction 213
7.2 Role of inherent MgO in AAC 214
7.3 Effect of additive reactive MgO on the properties of AAC 217
7.4 Applications of MgO-bearing AAC 225
7.5 Conclusions and recommendations for future work 237
References 237

8 Magnesia as an expansive additive 243

Liwu Mo, Abir Al-Tabbaa
8.1 History of MgO expansive cement and concrete 243
8.2 Hydration and expansion of MgO in cement-based materials 246
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8.3 Performance of concrete with MgO expansive additive 259

8.4 Application of MgO in shrinkage compensation and cracking
mitigation of concrete 262
8.5 Manufacture of MgO expansive additive 265
References 268

9 Magnesia in self-healing cement and concrete 275

Abir Al-Tabbaa
9.1 Introduction and overview 275
9.2 Expansive additives in autogenic self-healing of cementitious
systems 277
9.3 Autogenic self-healing in cement using MgO 279
9.4 Role of magnesia in autonomic self-healing applications in cement
and concrete 291
9.5 Field trials and applications 307
References 310
Index 313