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Concept
Energetically modified cement
Summary
Energetically modified cements (EMCs) are a class of cements made from pozzolans (e.g. fly ash, volcanic ash, pozzolana), silica sand, blast furnace slag, or Portland cement (or blends of these ingredients). The term "energetically modified" arises by virtue of the mechanochemistry process applied to the raw material, more accurately classified as "high energy ball milling" (HEBM). This causes, amongst others, a thermodynamic transformation in the material to increase its chemical reactivity. For EMCs, the HEBM process used is a unique form of specialised vibratory milling discovered in Sweden and applied only to cementitious materials, here called "EMC Activation".
By improving the reactivity of pozzolans, their strength-development rate is increased. This allows for compliance with modern product-performance requirements ("technical standards") for concretes and mortars. In turn, this allows for the replacement of Portland cement in the concrete and mortar mixes. This has a number of benefits to their long-term qualities.
Energetically modified cements have a wide range of uses. For example, EMCs have been used in concretes for large infrastructure projects in the United States, meeting U.S. concrete standards.
The term "energetically modified cement" incorporates a simple thermodynamic descriptor to refer to a class of cements produced using a specialised highly intensive milling process first discovered in 1993 at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) in Sweden. The transformatory process is initiated entirely mechanically as opposed to heating the materials directly. The mechanisms of mechanochemical transformations are often complex and different from "traditional" thermal or photochemical mechanisms. The effects of HEBM-transformation cause a thermodynamic change that resides ultimately in a modified Gibbs Energy. The process increases the binding capacity and chemical reactivity rates of the materials transformed.
Continuing academic work and research regarding "self-healing" properties of energetically modified cements is ongoing at LTU.
Official source
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