Fig. 5: C-S-H gel shells and their evolution.
a Selected 2D views of the PXCT data. The fourth panel displays the electron density profiles corresponding to the straight lines in the previous plots. At 19 h, the C-S-H shell covers every alite particle. The line profile at 19 h, blue trace in the fourth panel, shows water porosity (gap) between the alite particle and its shells. For these two particles, the shells have a thickness of ∼550 nm and an electron density of ∼0.47 e-Å−3. This C-S-H densifies at 2 days to ∼0.53 e-Å−3. The alite particles partly dissolve and air porosity starts to develop (black regions). b 3D rendered views of the ML segmented C-S-H gel shells with the colour signalling its thickness for the 19 h tomogram. (left) View superimposing the C-S-H shells to half of the studied capillary. (Right) 3D view of the segmented C-S-H shells.
