The manufacture of every ton of cement emits approximately 0.8 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, comprising 57% of the global human-made CO2 emissions. A low pH - low CO2 class of alkali activated materials consisting of a nanoscopic phase of an Al-substituted C-S-H, called C-A-S-H, is one of the most promising replacements of traditional cementitious binders. C-A-S-H has improved durability and strength properties, as well as environment-friendly character (slag recycling and reduced CO2 emission). However, very little is known about the atomistic structure of C-A-S-H and the structural and dynamical properties of water within its pores. Here, we propose to use the information gained from a recent study on the structural properties of different C-S-H pores in order to understand how the presence of Al substitutions affects the structural properties of water in the different C-S-H pores.
