Despite a century of research, our understanding of cement dissolution and
precipitation processes at early ages is very limited. This is due to the lack of
methods that can image these processes with enough spatial resolution,
contrast and field of view. Here, we adapt near-field ptychographic nanotomography
to in situ visualise the hydration of commercial Portland cement in a
record-thick capillary. At 19 h, porous C-S-H gel shell, thickness of 500 nm,
covers every alite grain enclosing a water gap. The spatial dissolution rate of
small alite grains in the acceleration period, ∼100 nm/h, is approximately four
times faster than that of large alite grains in the deceleration stage, ∼25 nm/h.
Etch-pit development has also been mapped out. This work is complemented
by laboratory and synchrotron microtomographies, allowing to measure the
particle size distributionswith time. 4D nanoimagingwill allow mechanistically
study dissolution-precipitation processes including the roles of accelerators
and superplasticizers.
