Novel Additives to Enhance the Performance of Low Carbon Cements for a Net Zero Future

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Cement is the 'glue' in concrete, the foundation upon which our modern civilisation is built. However, this comes with a huge environmental cost - cement production generates 8% of global CO 2 emissions, and half of all materials extracted from Earth are used in concrete. Luckily, recently developed low-carbon cements that we are investigating exhibit enhanced properties and reduce CO 2 emissions by >80%, compared to traditional Portland cement (PC), and are made almost entirely from industrial wastes. These cements require superplasticising copolymer dispersants to improve workability and flow characteristics, particularly for ultra-high performance concrete. However, dispersant behaviour differs significantly in each case due to extensive differences between aqueous and solid state chemistry in these cements, compared to PC. New alkali-resistant high-performance dispersants are urgently required for these next- generation low-carbon cements to make them practical for use in large-scale construction applications. In this PhD project we will examine the interactions between organic superplasticisers and inorganic cement particles in these next-generation low-carbon cements, and then use this knowledge to design novel superplasticisers with enhanced performance. We will adopt a new in situ characterisation approach (including surface-specific techniques and both spectroscopic and microstructural characterisation) to investigate the mechanisms and kinetics of organic- inorganic interactions, and their effects on cement performance. We will discover the fundamental processes controlling dispersion, fluidisation and reaction of these next-generation low-carbon cements, and use this knowledge to design, synthesise and test novel superplasticisers with enhanced performance. This will drive implementation and a circular economy, help decarbonise cement production, and help give humanity the best possible chance of mitigating climate change.