Evolution of microstructure and performance in magnesium potassium phosphate ceramics: Role of sintering temperature of MgO powder

Microstructural evolution and texture analysis of magnesium phosphate cement

“…Moreover, the accuracy of results from fluid intrusion methods is questionable, because they are model dependent, limited to the detection of open porosity and, in case of MPC, experimental conditions have been observed to produce irreversible modification of the microstructure . S V obtained from Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), is 3 orders of magnitude higher, because, as already observed in other phosphate cements, S V scales directly with the observation scale.…”

“…Comparison between results of the numerous studies on MPCs has been severely hampered by the wide variations in the use of retarders, amount of water, and typology of MgO . In a series of papers, we have studied the role of MgO reactivity in affecting the cement properties to gain insights into the mechanisms of the reaction, as key to product design . In fact, MgO dissolution is the first reaction step, driven by the acidic environment established by the fast dissolution of the acid phosphate in water .…”

“…The availability of Mg 2+ promotes the formation of solid reaction products. Despite a solid mass is obtained few minutes after mixing, most of the strength development is delayed and occurs over a long time scale (several days) . Such behavior has been attributed to the formation of an amorphous/paracrystalline intermediate reaction product, precursor of K‐struvite .…”

“…Such behavior has been attributed to the formation of an amorphous/paracrystalline intermediate reaction product, precursor of K‐struvite . Correlation of mechanical performance with amount of K‐struvite, indicated in the progressive development of a pervasive network of tabular/elongated K‐struvite crystals the main toughening mechanism in MPCs …”

Magnesium phosphate cements formulated with low grade magnesium oxide incorporating phase change materials for thermal energy storage

“…This phenomenon is due to the crystallization, which takes place on the cement matrix of mortars [34][35][36]. The crystallization effect is more noticeable on formulations without AEA because their porosity is lower as well as a higher densification of the mortar is allowed.…”