ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF THE X-RAY DIFFRACTION TECHNIQUE IN STUDIES ON SUPPLEMENTARY CEMENTARY MATERIALS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) prove to be a great alternative to reduce the consumption of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the use of raw materials. This is because they offer a solution to reduce the environmental impact, since MCSs are by-products and co-products, which when used to replace clinker in cement, these materials contribute to the mitigation of the environmental impact associated with the construction industry, besides being able to improve the mechanical properties and durability of concrete. Among the most used MCSs are silica fume (SF), fly ash (FA) and blast furnace slag (BFS), and for this reason, there are already several studies on these materials, where they are available in different compounds (pastes, mortars and concrete). With the popularization of the X-ray diffraction (DRX) technique, it’s necessary, not only to use the study of the macrostructural properties of a material, but also to understand how the microstructural properties works, with the intention of predicting or even avoiding failures in the material. Summing up, proves to be necessary analyze the microstructural properties of SCMs. The objective of this work is to compare and verify, in studies carried out between 2015 and 2020, the results of XRD. The results are worrying, since that in some studies about microstructure, the XRD technique is not used, or is only mentioned as used with just a few data. A minority of the analyzed studies brings quantified and tabulated results along with diffractograms.