Mechanism for rapid hardening of cement pastes under coupled CO2-water curing regime

A coupled CO2-water curing regime was employed on Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) paste samples immediately after casting, which allowed carbonation and hydration of OPC to proceed simultaneously. The strength development and microstructural evolution was evaluated by using multiple-techniques. The results indicated that, compared to the normal hydrated counterpart, a lower porosity, higher amorphous phase content and overall reaction degree can...