Surface Chemistry of Supplementary Cementitious Materials: A Key Lever in Cement Decarbonization
- Sponsored by Southern California Section ACS
- 3:00 pm-4:00 pm, online, free, registration required
Replacing a portion of Portland cement with locally sourced supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) is the most effective strategy to mitigate CO2 emissions and simultaneously reduce our reliance on imported minerals within the construction sector. However, predicting the chemical reactivity of these complex materials remains an elusive challenge. Traditional bulk and uniparameter metrics, such as metakaolin content or specific surface area, frequently fail to explain significant discrepancies in reactivity between seemingly identical materials.
This talk proposes a fundamental paradigm shift away from traditional bulk properties toward surface chemistry, lattice defects, and atomic configurations. By utilizing synthetic clay minerals and innovative 29Si isotopic labeling, our research group has achieved a 40x signal enhancement in solid-state NMR (ssNMR) experiments. This breakthrough enables precise, unprecedented tracking of metakaolin dissolution and early-age hydration kinetics in cementitious systems. Furthermore, we incorporate cutting-edge 4D-STEM (Four-Dimensional Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy) and zone axis orientation mapping to track the amorphization of aluminosilicate lattices upon calcination. Together, these advanced tools provide the detailed structural insights required to develop accurate models and robust predictive frameworks for next-generation cements.
About the Speaker
Prof. Franco Zunino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. His research centers on addressing the global sustainability challenges of construction materials, with a primary focus on low-carbon cements, supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), and early-age cement hydration chemistry. His Science of Cementitious Materials (SCiM) Lab specializes in bridging fundamental material science with civil engineering applications by leveraging advanced, multi-scale characterization tools, including solid-state NMR (ssNMR) with isotopic labeling, thermodynamic modeling, and advanced electron microscopy techniques like 4D-STEM, to explore material characteristics from atomic surfaces to structural performance.
Professor Zunino’s research has received widespread international recognition. He is a recipient of the 2026 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, which follows a Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Starting Grant in 2024 and an SNSF Ambizione grant in 2022. His honors also include the 2023 RILEM Colonnetti Medal, the 2022 American Concrete Institute (ACI) Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper, and the global Nanocem 2020 Prize for the best doctoral thesis in cement and concrete science. He is also actively engaged in professional service and standardization leadership. He currently serves as Chair of the ACI 240.0A subcommittee on calcined clays, secretary of the ACI 231 committee on early-age properties of concrete, and chair of Workgroup 5 within the ASTM C09.24 subcommittee on reactivity. Additionally, he is a member of the RILEM Educational Activities Committee (EAC) and serves on the Editorial Boards of Construction and Building Materials, RILEM Technical Letters and as an Associate Editor in the ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.